Josep Carner

Josep Carner i Puig-Oriol (born Barcelona 1884 - died Brussels 1970), was a Catalan poet, journalist, playwright and translator. He was also known as "the Prince of Catalan Poets".

Biography

In 1897, Carner entered the University of Barcelona, where he studied law and philosophy, and developed an interested in Catalan Nationalism. He likewise worked on a number of literary journals, including "Montserrat" and "L'Atlàntida", among others. Carner went on to direct "Catalunya2" (from 1903 to 1905), "Empori" (from 1907 to 1908) and "Catalunya" (from 1913 to 1914). In 1911, he became a member of the Philological Section of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (the "Institute of Catalan Studies," akin to a "Royal Academy" for the Catalan language). There he collaborated with another well-known Catalan linguist, Pompeu Fabra, in standardizing and enriching the Catalan language.

At the beginning of the 20th century, he joined "La Veu de Catalunya" ("The Voice of Catalonia"), where he wrote until 1928. In 1915 he married a Chilean, Carmen de Ossa, who died in Lebanon in 1935. They had two children together, Anna Maria and Josep.

Carner was quite innovative in his use of language, in both poetry and prose. He created a new style of political journalism. Along with Prat de la Riba, then president of the Mancomunitat de Catalunya, he fought for the professionalization of the Catalan literature, which he considered to be in an "adolescent" stage. After Prat de la Riba's death in 1920, Carner took the civil service examination for the Consular Corps. In March 1921, he began a diplomatic career, and left Catalonia to go to Genoa. Carner settled there with his family as Vice-Consul of Spain. Thereafter he held positions in Genoa, San José, Costa Rica; Le Havre, France; Hendaye, France; Beirut; Brussels and Paris. During the Spanish Civil War, Carner remained loyal to the Republic and thus never return again to Spain or to Catalonia.

As one of the few diplomats that stayed loyal to the Republic, his exile was involuntary. He married a Belgian teacher and literary critic Émilie Noulet; together they set out for a new life in Mexico. Carner lived there from 1939 to 1945, teaching at the Colegio de México. He later moved to Belgium.

A collection of thirty of Carner's poems translated into English by the Irish poet Pearse Hutchinson was published in Oxford by Joan Gili in 1962.

Poetry

* Llibre dels poetes (1904)
* Primer llibre de sonets (1905)
* Els fruits saborosos (1906)
* Segon llibre de sonets (1907)
* Verger de les galanies (1911)
* Auques i ventalls (1914)
* El cor quiet (1925)
* Nabí (1941)
* Poesia (1957) (compilation). In "Poesia" there is a section that could be considered a separate book, "Absència", with recurrent themes of exile and homeland.

Plays

* El giravolt de maig (1928)
* El Ben Cofat i l'Altre (1951)
* Cop de vent (1966)

Prose

* L'idil·li dels nyanyos (1903)
* La malvestat d'Oriana (1910)

Articles, Stories, Word Games

* Les planetes del verdum (1918)
* Les bonhomies (1925)
* Tres estels i un ròssec (1927)

External links

Biographies

* [http://www.lletra.net/noms/jcarner/index.html Website devoted to Josep Carner (lletrA (UOC), Catalan Literature Online] en_icon
* [http://www.uoc.edu/lletra/noms/jcarner/index.html Josep Carner at Lletra, espai virtual de literatura catalana] ca_icon
* [http://www.escriptors.com/autors/carnerj/ Association of Catalan Writers] (in Catalan)
* [http://www.xtec.es/~jducros/Josep%20Carner.html Professor Joan Ducros' website] (in Catalan)
* [http://www.auques.net/auques.php?auca=carner Auca de Josep Carner] (in Catalan)

Works

*gutenberg author|name=Josep Carner|id=Josep_Carner
* [http://manybooks.net/titles/carnerj1721917219-8.html La creació d'Eva i altres contes] at http://manybooks.net/ , for PDA.

References

*This article draws heavily on the corresponding article in the Catalan-language Wikipedia, which was accessed in the version of January 25, 2006.