Russell Edson

Russell Edson (1928–2014) was an American poet, novelist, and illustrator renowned as the godfather of the prose poem in America. Born in New York City to cartoonist Gus Edson, he began publishing in the 1960s, producing numerous collections of surreal prose poetry, fables, novels, and plays, with honors including Guggenheim and National Endowment for the Arts fellowships, and a Whiting Award. His dreamlike works feature bizarre figures in absurd situations, blending humor, grotesquerie, and the uncanny.