In 1945, after wartime on the run and in the Resistance, Gabriel Pomerand (1925-1972) met the young Romanian refugee Isidore Isou and together they launched the Lettrist movement. They espoused a philosophy of constant creative renewal in which, among other things, letterforms were to be the basis, the underlying principle, of future artwork. Along with their followers, Pomerand and Isou instigated dozens of performances, exhibits, and publications in a decade-long burst of energy. Pomerand was the mouthpiece of the movement in its first years. He organized scandalous public lectures, gave reputedly remarkable performances of sound poetry, painted oils, and made an award-winning short movie. His prolific writing over the years included innovative artists books and novels, including Saint Ghetto of the Loans, 1950 (republished by UDP in 2006 with an English translation), as well as screenplays, cultural criticism, and book reviews.