Dom Pierre-Sylvester Houédard (16 February 1924 – 15 January 1992), also known by the initials 'dsh', was a British
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
priest
A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...
,
theologian
Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
and noted
concrete poet
Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...
.
Life
Born on
Guernsey
Guernsey (; Guernésiais: ''Guernési''; french: Guernesey) is an island in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy that is part of the Bailiwick of Guernsey, a British Crown Dependency.
It is the second largest of the Channel Islands ...
, as Pierre (Peter) Thomas Paul Jean Houédard, he was educated at
Jesus College, Oxford
Jesus College (in full: Jesus College in the University of Oxford of Queen Elizabeth's Foundation) is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship St ...
Prinknash Abbey
Prinknash Abbey (pronounced locally variously as "Prinidge/Prinnish") (International Phonetic Alphabet, IPA: ) is a Catholic Church in England and Wales, Roman Catholic monastery in the Vale of Gloucester in the Diocese of Clifton, near the villa ...
in
Gloucestershire
Gloucestershire ( abbreviated Glos) is a county in South West England. The county comprises part of the Cotswold Hills, part of the flat fertile valley of the River Severn and the entire Forest of Dean.
The county town is the city of Gl ...
, being ordained as a priest in 1959 and taking the
religious name
A religious name is a type of given name bestowed for a religious purposes, and which is generally used in such contexts.
Christianity
Catholic Church Baptismal name
In baptism, Catholic Church, Catholics are given a Christian name, which should ...
concrete poetry
Concrete poetry is an arrangement of linguistic elements in which the typographical effect is more important in conveying meaning than verbal significance. It is sometimes referred to as visual poetry, a term that has now developed a distinct mea ...
, with regular contributions to magazines and exhibitions from the early 1960s onward. His elaborate, typewriter-composed visual poems ("typestracts") were scattered across many
chapbook
A chapbook is a small publication of up to about 40 pages, sometimes bound with a saddle stitch.
In early modern Europe a chapbook was a type of printed street literature. Produced cheaply, chapbooks were commonly small, paper-covered bookle ...
s, including ''Kinkon'' (1965) and ''Tantric Poems Perhaps'' (1967). Among his best-known works is the poem "Frog-Pond-Plop", his English rendition of a
zen
Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...
haiku
is a type of short form poetry originally from Japan. Traditional Japanese haiku consist of three phrases that contain a ''kireji'', or "cutting word", 17 '' on'' (phonetic units similar to syllables) in a 5, 7, 5 pattern, and a ''kigo'', or se ...
by
Matsuo Bashō
born then was the most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō was recognized for his works in the collaborative '' haikai no renga'' form; today, after centuries of commentary, he is recognized as the greatest ma ...
.Archives Hub: Dom Silvester Houédard Papers /ref> He also edited four issues of the magazine ''Kroklok'' (1971–1976), a periodical devoted to research into the history of sound poetry.
Bible translator
Houédard became literary editor of the ''
Jerusalem Bible
''The Jerusalem Bible'' (JB or TJB) is an English translation of the Bible published in 1966 by Darton, Longman & Todd. As a Catholic Bible, it includes 73 books: the 39 books shared with the Hebrew Bible, along with the seven deuterocanonical ...
'' in 1961.
Other interests
Houédard cultivated an interest in multiple religious traditions; he wrote commentaries on
Meister Eckhart
Eckhart von Hochheim ( – ), commonly known as Meister Eckhart, Master Eckhart and corresponded widely with leading poets, artists, theologians and philosophers of his day, including
Robert Graves
Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was a British poet, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were both Celtic ...
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg (; June 3, 1926 – April 5, 1997) was an American poet and writer. As a student at Columbia University in the 1940s, he began friendships with William S. Burroughs and Jack Kerouac, forming the core of the Beat Gener ...
,
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II (; February 5, 1914 – August 2, 1997) was an American writer and visual artist, widely considered a primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodern author who influenced popular cultur ...
,
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation.
Of French-Canadian a ...
,
Lionel Kearns
Lionel John Kearns (born February 16, 1937) is a Canadian poet and teacher He was born in Nelson, British Columbia, and attended the University of British Columbia, where he was a student of Earle Birney. He later taught at Simon Fraser University ...
John Blofeld
John Eaton Calthorpe Blofeld (2 April 1913 – 7 June 1987) was a British writer on Asian thought and religion, especially Taoism and Chinese Buddhism.
Early life
Blofeld was born in London in 1913.Blofeld 2008, pg. 4 In his youth, he happened ...
,
Michael Horovitz
Michael Yechiel Ha-Levi Horovitz (4 April 1935 – 7 July 2021) was a German-born British poet, editor, visual artist and translator who was a leading part of the Beat Poetry scene in the UK. In 1959, while still a student, he founded the "t ...
and
Ian Hamilton Finlay
Ian Hamilton Finlay, CBE (28 October 1925 – 27 March 2006) was a Scottish poet, writer, artist and gardener.
Life
Finlay was born in Nassau, Bahamas, to James Hamilton Finlay and his wife, Annie Pettigrew, both of Scots descent.
He was ...
. In 1965, he collaborated with
Jasia Reichardt
Jasia Reichardt (born 1933) is a British art critic, curator, art gallery director, teacher and prolific writer, specialist in the emergence of computer art. In 1968 she was curator of the landmark ''Cybernetic Serendipity'' exhibition at London's ...
from the
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. Located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch, the ICA c ...
in London on a book about the connection between poetry and painting. Houédard collaborated next with Filipino poet and artist
David Medalla
David Cortez Medalla (23 March 1942 – 28 December 2020) was a Filipino international artist and political activist. His work ranged from sculpture and kinetic art to painting, installation, and performance art.
Early life
David Cortez Medal ...
in a modern ballet entitled ''The Yellow Wrinkled Pea'', inspired by the life and scientific discoveries of the monk
Gregor Mendel
Gregor Johann Mendel, Augustinians, OSA (; cs, Řehoř Jan Mendel; 20 July 1822 – 6 January 1884) was a biologist, meteorologist, mathematician, Augustinians, Augustinian friar and abbot of St Thomas's Abbey, Brno, St. Thomas' Abbey in Br ...
; the modern ballet, choreographed by Medalla, was performed in 1967 by members of the Exploding Galaxy at
Middle Earth
Middle or The Middle may refer to:
* Centre (geometry), the point equally distant from the outer limits.
Places
* Middle (sheading), a subdivision of the Isle of Man
* Middle Bay (disambiguation)
* Middle Brook (disambiguation)
* Middle Creek ( ...
in Covent Garden, London, in 1967. Houédard contributed a poem to ''Signals'', the avant-garde news bulletin by Medalla in the sixties. Houédard, Medalla and Antonio Sena exhibited together at the
Lisson Gallery
Lisson Gallery is a contemporary art gallery with locations in London and New York, founded by Nicholas Logsdail in 1967. The gallery represents over 50 artists such as Art & Language, Ryan Gander, Carmen Herrera, Richard Long, John Latham, Sol ...
in London in 1967. Medalla curated the first solo exhibition by Houédard in 1976 at Artists for Democracy's Fitzrovia Cultural Centre, 143 Whitfield Street, London.
Publications
In 2012, Occasional Papers published ''Notes from the Cosmic Typewriter'', a book devoted to Houédard, edited by Nicola Simpson, with essays by Gustavo Grandal Montero,
Rick Poynor
Rick Poynor is a British writer on design, graphic design, typography, and visual culture.
Career
He began as a general visual arts journalist, working on ''Blueprint'' magazine in London. After founding Eye (magazine), ''Eye'' magazine, which he ...
,
David Toop
David Toop (born 5 May 1949) is an English musician, author, curator, and Emeritus Professor. From 2013 to 2021 he was professor of audio culture and improvisation at the London College of Communication. He was a regular contributor to British m ...