Valery Oisteanu is a poet, writer and artist. Born in the USSR (1943) and educated in Romania, he adopted Dada and Surrealism as a philosophy of life and art in the early 1960s and immigrated to New York City in 1972. He has authored 20 books of poetry as well as a forthcoming collection of essays titled The Avant-Gods. The recipient of the Kathy Acker Award (2013) for contribution to the American avant-garde in poetry performance, he takes part in theatrical and other poetry-musical collaborations with jazz artists from around the world in seasons he dubs “Jazzoetry.” A freelance art critic, he serves on the permanent staff of The Brooklyn Rail, NYArts, Rain Taxi, the Spanish publication art.es, and D’Art International (a Canadian magazine). Oișteanu is also the founder/president of PASS: Poets and Artists Surrealist Society.