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Raymond Roussel (1877–1933) is considered the father of constraint-based writing, and an important precursor to the nouveau roman.
His most famous novels are Impressions of Africa and Locus Solus, which were written according to formal constraints based on homonymic puns. Roussel kept this method a secret until the publication of his posthumous text, How I Wrote Certain of My Books. Roussel was unpopular during his lifetime, and critical reception of his works was almost unanimously negative. Nevertheless he was admired by the Surrealist group and other avant-garde writers. He began to be rediscovered in the late 1950s, by the Oulipo and Alain Robbe-Grillet.
His most direct influence in the English speaking world was on the New York school of poets, including Harry Mathews, Kenneth Koch, and John Ashbery. Michel Foucault also wrote a critical study.
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