Ford, Charles Henri

▪ 2003

Charles Henry Ford 

      American poet, writer, and artist (b. Feb. 10, 1908, Hazlehurst, Miss.—d. Sept. 27, 2002, New York, N.Y.), lived and worked among the bohemian avant-garde. His poems first appeared in print while he was a teenager, and in all he published 16 books of poetry, most of it in a Surrealist vein. In 1929 he founded Blues: A Magazine of New Rhythms, which in its eight issues included contributions by some of the most celebrated writers of the day. In 1933, with Parker Tyler, he wrote The Young and Evil, which was considered to be the first gay novel and was banned in the U.S. and Britain until the 1960s. He founded the journal View in 1940 and during its seven-year history introduced a number of European artists and writers to American audiences. His artwork included paintings, drawings, collages, and photographs.

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