The Europa Press was a publishing house founded and run by the

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

surrealist Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to l ...

poet

George Reavey George Reavey (1 May 1907 – 11 August 1976) was a Russian-born Irish surrealist poet, publisher, translator and art collector. He was also Samuel Beckett's first literary agent. In addition to his own poetry, Reavey's translations and critical ...

. The press was based in Paris from its inception in 1932 until 1935, when Reavey moved to London. It ceased operation in 1939. The Europa Press is important in the history of 20th century

Irish poetry Irish poetry is poetry written by poets from Ireland. It is mainly written in Irish language, Irish and English, though some is in Scottish Gaelic literature, Scottish Gaelic and some in Hiberno-Latin. The complex interplay between the two mai ...

because it published early work by Reavey,

Brian Coffey Brian Coffey (8 June 1905 – 14 April 1995) was an Irish poet and publisher. His work was informed by his Catholicism, his background in science and philosophy, and his connection to French surrealism. He was close to an intellectual Europea ...

Denis Devlin Denis Devlin (15 April 1908 – 21 August 1959) was, along with Samuel Beckett, Thomas MacGreevy and Brian Coffey, one of the generation of Irish modernist poets to emerge at the end of the 1920s. He was also a career diplomat. Early life and ...

and

Samuel Beckett Samuel Barclay Beckett (; 13 April 1906 – 22 December 1989) was an Irish novelist, dramatist, short story writer, theatre director, poet, and literary translator. His literary and theatrical work features bleak, impersonal and tragicomic expe ...

and in a wider context of literary and surrealist history because it published the first ever collection of English-language versions of work by

Paul Éluard Paul Éluard (), born Eugène Émile Paul Grindel (; 14 December 1895 – 18 November 1952), was a French poet and one of the founders of the Surrealist movement. In 1916, he chose the name Paul Éluard, a matronymic borrowed from his maternal ...

. This was published to coincide with the opening of the

International Surrealist Exhibition The International Surrealist Exhibition was held from 11 June to 4 July 1936 at the New Burlington Galleries, near Savile Row in London's Mayfair, England. Organisers The exhibition was organised by committees from England, France, Belgium, Sca ...

in 1936 and featured a drawing by

Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...

and a preface by

Herbert Read Sir Herbert Edward Read, (; 4 December 1893 – 12 June 1968) was an English art historian, poet, literary critic and philosopher, best known for numerous books on art, which included influential volumes on the role of art in education. Read ...

, and the translators included Reavey, Beckett, Devlin,

David Gascoyne David Gascoyne (10 October 1916 – 25 November 2001) was an English poet associated with the Surrealist movement, in particular the British Surrealist Group. Additionally he translated work by French surrealist poets. Early life and surrealis ...

Man Ray Man Ray (born Emmanuel Radnitzky; August 27, 1890 – November 18, 1976) was an American visual artist who spent most of his career in Paris. He was a significant contributor to the Dada and Surrealism, Surrealist movements, although his t ...

and

Ruthven Todd Ruthven Campbell Todd (pronounced 'riven') (14 June 1914 – 11 October 1978) was a Scottish poet, artist and novelist, best known as an editor of the works of William Blake, and expert on his printing techniques. During the 1940s he also wrote d ...

Complete list of Europa Press books

#Reavey, George. ''Faust's Metamorphoses''. (1932) (in association with ''

The New Review ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''). #Reavey, George. ''Nostradam''. (1935). #Reavey, George. ''Signes d'Adieu''. (1935). #Beckett, Samuel. ''Echo's Bones and Other Precipitates''. (1935). #Eluard, Paul. ''Thorns of Thunder''. (1936). #Devlin, Denis. ''Intercessions''. (1937). # Ford, Charles Henry. ''The Garden of Disorder''. (1938) #Coffey, Brian. ''Third Person''. (1938) #Reavey, George. ''Quixotic Perquisitions''. (1939).

References

;Print *Coughlan, P. and Davis, A. (eds) ''Modernism and Ireland: the Poetry of the 1930s''. ;Online
An interview with George Reavey
{{Authority control Publishing companies established in 1932 Publishing companies disestablished in 1939 Small press publishing companies Book publishing companies of France Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom Mass media in Paris French companies established in 1932 1939 disestablishments in England British companies disestablished in 1939