Guillaume Apollinaire

The Profile

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) was a French poet, writer and critic, author of Alcools (1913) and known as a precursor of Surrealism and an innovator of free verse and calligrammes.

Born 1880, died 1918. Published Alcools (1913) and Calligrammes (1918). Associated with Parisian avant‑garde circles and regarded as an important precursor of Surrealism.

Two appreciative reviews (by CosmicJocker) emphasize Apollinaire as a transitional figure between late Symbolism and early avant‑garde. They highlight Alcools and Le Poète assassiné, his formal experiments (free verse, punctuation removal) and playful mixture of myth, everyday life and satire. Apollinaire is presented as an inventor of modern poetic modes and a precursor of Surrealism.