Trigo, Xulio Ricardo

Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert

A N  O V E R V I E W  O F  YOUNG 
C A T A L A N  P O E T R Y  
THE MID-EIGHTIES SAW THE PUBLICATION OF THE FIRST 
SIGNIFICANT BOOKS BY YOUNG POETS WHOSE AGE AND 
STYLE ALIKE SET THEM APART FROM THE "GENERATION OF 
THE SEVENTIES". 
he rnid-eighties saw the publica- 
tion of the first significant books 
by young poets whose age and 
style alike -although this is often wide 
open to discussion- set thern apart frorn 
the "Generation of the seventies". The 
anthologies of the period present the 
first narnes, writers born at the end of 
the fifties or beginning of the sixties. 
These were to be meeting points for still 
wavering voices taking their first steps 
in the world of poetry. Two of thern, 
though, stand out above the rest: Anto- 
logia poetica universitaria 1 985 and 
L'espai del vers iove ( 1985). Both speak 
of poets who later on, in 1989, were to 
appear in David Castillo's Ser del segle 
(Antología dels nous poetes catalansl, 
essential for understanding the signifi- 
cance of the eighties in the renovation 
of poetry in Catalan. Many of the 
narnes which in later years occupied 
the ranks of young Catalan poetry are 
represented here. 
Between 1985 and 1989 this renova- 
tion rnaterialized in a series of prizes 
and collections. If we look at the list of 
winners of the Carles Riba prize, Carles 
Torner, in 1984, was the first to receive 
it out of this group of poets; later it was 
to go to Xavier Lloveras (1986) and 
Jaurne Subirana ( 1  9881. Young poets 
also appeared on the rol1 of honour of 
other prizes. Gandia's Ausias March 
prize brought recognition to the narnes 
of Josep Ballester and Albert Roig; the 
Salvador Espriu prize to Margalida 
Pons; and other narnes that carne to 
stand out, also thanks largely to differ- 
ent prizes, were Viceng Llorca, lsidre 
Martínez, Rarnon Guillern, Hector Mo- 
ret, Manuel Castaño, Jordi Cornudella, 
Pau Joan Hernandez and Antoni Ta- 
pies-Barba. 
This brief look at the awards of the 
period ought to take in the Salvador 
Espriu prize, created with the obiect of 
publishing poets under the age of 
twenty-five; the Senyoriu d'Ausias 
March, awarded to a number of young 
voices from the País Valencia; the Vicent 
Andrés Estellés, the Miquel de Palol, the 
Josep Maria López-Picó and the Ben- 
vingut Oliver. 
Another point to consider is the emer- 
gente of new poetry collections or the 
renovation of those already existing, 
which began to include young poets. 
These were the new collections brought 
out by Editorial Columna, Editorial Em- 
púries and El Cingle, as well as the for- 
mer Gregal Poesia. L'Escorpí, of Edi- 
cions 62, and Poesia 3i4 also included 
new names. 
Eight poets 
Two things make it necessary to choose 
eight poets out of al1 these names that 
have appeared over the last ten years. 
First of al1 the limited space available, 
and secondly the fact that any selection 
involves a personal choice. If we look 
carefully at the names in David Casti- 
llo's anthology in the light of their sub- 
sequent work,the development of some 
of these poets is irrefutable: Carles Tor- 
ner, Ramon Guillem, Josep Ballester, 
Margalida Pons and Viceng Llorca. But 
also, amongst those that were not inclu- 
ded in Castillo's anthology there are 
three whose work in recent years de- 
serves the three remaining places: An- 
toni Tapies-Barba, Antoni Puigvert and 
Gabriel Planella. We shall therefore 
take a quick look at these authors. 
Carles Torner (b. 19631 published his 
first book, A la ciutat blanca in 1984 in 
the AJELC collection; later on Als Iímits 
de la sal appeared (1  9851, for which he 
won the 1985 Carles Riba award, and, 
more recently, L'angel del saqueig 
(1991 1. His work is  a fine example of 
the poetry of these years, with magical 
and religious references aimed at new, 
all-embracing humanist values for the 
human race. 
Ramon Guillem (b. 19591 set out in 1985 
with D'on gran desig s'engendre and 
since then has published two more 
books, L 'hiverrr remot ( 19871 and Les 
ombres seduides (1  991 1, as well as his 
plaquette Aiguamolls ( 1 99 1 1. Guillern 
has also ventured into narrative, with 
the diary La cambra insomne (1  9921 
and the children's book El país dels dos 
sols (1  992). His poetry is  striking for its 
L ITERATURE 
formal perfection and for the search for 
the expressive capacities of language in 
its phonetic and syntactic aspects, but 
also for the personal and cultural 
worlds it coniures up. If we take poetry 
to be the fusion of a series of sugges- 
tive elernents, Guillern is probably the 
poet with the firmest grounding of his 
generation. 
Margalida Pons (b. 19661 is the most re- 
presentative voice amongst the women 
of her generation. She has had two 
books published, Sis bronzes grisos 
d'alba (1  9861 and Les aus ( 1  9881, the 
second the winner of the Ciutat de Ma- 
llorca poetry prize. In both collections 
she develops a very personal interest in 
language and poetic forms, and with 
Les aus she achieves one of the most 
beautiful books of recent years. 
Viceng Llorca (b. 19651 published his first 
book, La perdua, in 1987. From there 
he has gone on to produce two more 
masterly books, Places de mans ( 1988 
Salvador Espriu award) and L'amic de- 
sert (1  991 Ausias March award). Llor- 
ca's poetry takes its sustenance from 
the classics and from a profound know- 
ledge of contemporary tradition within 
the parameters of a new humanism he 
successfully combines with formal 
beauty. This is what makes Llorca, who 
has also worked in the field of non- 
fiction, along with Ramon Guillem, pos- 
sibly one of the best prepared poets of 
his generation. 
To go on, Josep Ballester, with books 
like Passadís voraF del silenci ( 1 9851, 
Tatuatge (1  989) or Oasi (1  9891, is 
another of the poets who deserve to be 
included in this selection. His poetic 
work digs deep into the possibilities of 
language to make him one of the 
group's rnost original voices. 
As I have said, there are three other 
poets who in spite of their exclusion 
from Ser del segle deserve a special 
mention. One of these is Antoni Puig- 
verd, who surprised us in 1989 with Vis- 
ta cansada (Miquel de Palol award) and 
even more so with Curset de natació 
(1  991 Carles Riba award). His poetry, 
with its high degree of formal perfec- 
tion, studies the basic characteristics of 
man as we approach the end of the 
century. 
Antoni Tapies-Barba (b. 19561 can be 
though of as a sort of bridging poet, 
which can often have a harmful effect 
on a work's diffusion. The work of his 
second period -books such as La veu 
del vent (19881, El sedas de la nit 
( 19901 and Materia dels astres ( 19921- 
shines with a light of its own. Tapies- 
Barba has also written fiction, Des de 
I'ombra ( 1 9921. 
One last important name to remernber 
is  Gabriel Planella (19581, with books 
like Historia d'un paisatge ( 1 9851 and 
Roda ( 1  9921, poetry that explores 
rnan's relations with nature and with his 
everyday surroundings. 
This hasty look at the latest poetry just 
gives us time to mention the other poets 
who really deserve more space. These 
are Montserrat Rodés, Manuel Casta- 
ño, Pau Joan Hernandez, Xavier Llove- 
ras, lsidre Martinez, Jaume Subirana, 
Emili Rosales, Xavier Amorós and Mi- 
quelBezares. Perhaps these, or others 
who for the moment have been con- 
demned to silence by the lack of space, 
will be the cause of comment in the fu- 
ture, but an article of this sort offers no 
chance of being exhaustive, and I make 
no claim to have done so. 


An Overview of Young Catalan Poetry

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Revistes Catalanes amb Accés Obert