Founded in 2021, UBU is the premiere journal for absurdist and dada haikai and other minimalist forms.

 

I had the privilege of studying absurdist theatre in college, having done scenes from Beckett's Waiting for Godot, Shepard's Red Cross, Sartre's No Exit, and Pinter's The Dumb Waiter. My favorite absurdist play, however, Jarry's Ubu Roi (1896), which uses extreme satire, foolishness, and obscenity to mock the upper middle class and overturn their social norms, is a precursor to Dadaism, Surrealism, and the Theatre of the Absurd in the 20th century. I chose UBU for its roots in the plays I hold dearest to my heart and its impact on some of my favorite literature. 

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Although I've studied theatre for over fifteen years, I've been writing and studying minimalist poetry for the past nine years. Recently I've decided to combine my love of the two by using this venue to focus on absurd, minimalist writing.

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—Rowan Beckett Minor, Founder and Editor