Joyce Mansour

Joyce Mansour (25 July 1928 – 27 August 1986) was an Egyptian-French author, notable as a Surrealist poet.

She was born Joyce Patricia Adès, in Bowden, England, to Jewish-Egyptian parents. She lived in Cairo, where she first came in contact with Parisian surrealism, and then moved to Paris in 1953 where she became the best known Surrealist female poet, author of 16 books of poetry, as well as a number of important prose and theatre pieces.

In 1947, her first marriage at the age of 19 ended after six months when her husband died of an incurable disease. Her second marriage was to Samir Mansour in 1949. They then divided their time between Cairo and Paris. Joyce Mansour began to write in French.

She died of cancer in Paris in 1986.