PIERRE MARTORY was born in Bayonne, France (1920). He grew up in Morocco and joined North Africa’s Free French Army during World War II. He published the novel Phébus ou le beau mariage with Denoël (1953) and worked as drama and music critic for Paris-Match for over twenty years. In March 1956, Martory met John Ashbery, then on a Fulbright in Paris, where they lived together nine years. In 1962, Ashbery dedicated The Tennis Court Oath to Martory. In the seventies, Martory collaborated with the artist Francis Wishart on a volume of text and etchings entitled Le Père-Lachaise. In 1990, Ashbery translated Martory’s first poetry collection, Every Question but One, and in 1994 Sheep Meadow Press published Martory’s first full-length volume of poetry, The Landscape Is behind the Door. A collection of poems in French, Veilleur de jours (Sheep Meadow Press–Alyscamps Press), appeared in 1997. Martory died in Paris on October 5, 1998. Most recently, Artery Editions in England published Oh, lac / Oh, Lake, a bilingual edition of twenty Martory poems, translated by Ashbery, with artwork by Wishart.