Céline Arnauld

Who was Céline Arnauld?

Céline Arnauld was a writer associated with Dadaism.

Arnauld’s poetry appears earliest in her first published volume of 1914, titled La Lanterne magique. Poèmes à claires-voies of 1920, Point de mire of 1921, and Guêpier de diamants of 1923 followed during the Paris Dada years. She published until 1948, though all of her texts are rare and some are considered lost. While occasionally working in prose, Arnauld a consistently published poet, albeit by small publishers. Her first and only published novel, Tournevire, is an experimental text of 1919. She was published in the Dada journals DADAphone, Cannibale, and Z. These early poems revolved around the theme of transport, referring to modern travel means and metaphysical transit.

She was a director of the short-lived but appreciated journal Projecteur and a collaborator of 391, Z and other Dadaist journals.

Arnauld was also part of Dada performances. In March 1920, she is credited in the program of the Manifestation Dada de la Maison d’Oeuvre as “the pregnant woman” in “La Première Aventure Céleste de M. Antipyrine” by Tristan Tzara. Two months later, she is recorded as an author and performer of a dialogue called “Jeu d’éches” in the Festival Dada at the Salle Gaveau.