Which surrealist poet wrote the novel 'Nadja'?

André Breton wrote the surrealist novel Nadja.

Published in French in 1928, Nadja was Breton’s second published book and one of the defining literary works of Surrealism. It begins with the question “Who am I?” and blends memoir, reflection, photographs, documentary detail, and episodes that challenge ordinary ideas of rational behavior.

The narrative draws on Breton’s real-life meetings with a woman who called herself Nadja. Their encounters took place over roughly ten days in Paris, where Breton became fascinated by her unusual perceptions and unpredictable responses. The book’s title refers to the beginning of the Russian word for “hope,” while also suggesting the French word nadie, meaning “no one.”

Philippe Soupault, Louis Aragon, and Paul Éluard were important surrealist writers and collaborators, which can make them tempting alternatives. Breton, however, was the book’s author and a central theorist of the movement. He later issued a revised edition in 1963, and the work’s famous closing idea links beauty with convulsion and transformation.