Miquel Martí i Pol
Miquel Martí i Pol (Catalan pronunciation: [miˈkɛl məɾˈti j ˈpɔl]; 19 March 1929 – 11 November 2003) was one of the most popular and widely-read Catalan poets of the twentieth century, publishing more than 1,500 poems.[1] [2]
Biography[]
At the age of 14, Martí i Pol started work in the office of a textile factory. He published his first poetry when he was only 15.[3] Based on his experience in the factory, he wrote in 1959 a collection of poems called La fàbrica (the Factory). However, they were to remain unpublished until 1970 as his family were afraid that their publication might cause him to lose his job.[2] He worked at the factory until 1973, when at the age of 43 the multiple sclerosis he had contracted forced him to quit.
Martí i Pol spent his whole life in the town of his birth, Roda de Ter. He was committed to the people of the town and factory and also to the social class to which they belonged. He wrote: “I want to speak of them/in speaking of people today/ I want to speak of them. Without them, I do not exist.”[4] However, in his best-selling collection of poems (over 100,000 copies sold[2]) entitled Estimada Marta (Dear Marta), he showed that he could also poeticize an amorous and erotic relationship between a man and woman.[4] In his later work, he explored the recurring themes of love, desire and death.[3]
Martí i Pol was married twice and had two children from his first marriage.
Main works[]
Some of his main works are:
1954: Paraules al vent
1966: El poble
1972: La fàbrica
1972: Vint-i-set poemes en tres temps
1975: L'arrel i l'escorça
1976: El llarg viatge
1977: Amb vidres a la sang
1978: Estimada Marta
1991: Suite de Parlavà
2002: Després de tot
Translator[]
Apart from writing poetry, Martí i Pol also translated over 20 books, mainly from French. Among the authors he translated are Saint-Exupéry, Simone de Beauvoir, Apollinaire, Flaubert, Barthes, Lévi-Strauss and Zola.[5][6]
Politics[]
Martí i Pol was an active member of the PSUC (Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia) under the last years of the Franco dictatorship. He joined in 1968 and left in 1982, following a comment by Santiago Carrillo, long-time leader of the Spanish Communist Party, that the PSUC was "too Catalan and little Spanish".[6]
References[]
- ^ "Fallece Miquel Martí i Pol, el poeta más popular y querido de Cataluña". El País.
- ^ Jump up to: a b c "Miquel Martí i Pol, l'home que volia ser 'només' poeta". VilaWeb.
- ^ Jump up to: a b "Miquel Martí i Pol 1929-2003: Biografia". L'Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC).
- ^ Jump up to: a b Farrés, Pere. "Miquel Martí i Pol". lletrA-Catalan literature online.
- ^ "La Biografia". Fundació Miquel Martí i Pol.
- ^ Jump up to: a b Coromina Pou, Eusebi. "Miquel Martí i Pol: entre la dictadura franquista i el combat intel·lectual". Anuari Verdaguer. 24–2016.
External links[]
- Martí i Pol at the AELC (Association of Writers in Catalan Language), in Catalan, English and Spanish.
- Miquel Martí i Pol in LletrA, Catalan Literature Online (Open University of Catalunya) (in English, Spanish, and Catalan)
- Pep Guardiola reads Ara mateix (Right Now) by Martí i Pol
- Catalan-language poets
- Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes winners
- 1929 births
- 2003 deaths
- 20th-century Spanish poets