Catalan poet Joan Maragall published in English for the first time

One Day of Life is Life is a bilingual collection of both Maragall’s poetry and prose, edited and translated by Ronald Puppo and published by Fum d’Estampa. It is the first time Joan Maragall’s work has ever been published in English, besides some sparse poems here and there. Joan Maragall (1860-1911) is an outstanding Catalan-language poet and publicist, a prototype for the twentieth-century intellectuel engagé.

The volume has been published by a book house that publishes Catalan literature in English. Doug Suttle, founder of Fum d’Estampa, tells VilaWeb English how the book came to life: “I first heard of Ronald Puppo when I read about his Verdaguer translation. When he contacted me and told me of his Maragall I couldn’t believe my luck. Here was this great translator whose work I admired greatly, offering me an all but finished annotated collection of Joan Maragall’s work! Of course, I had heard of Joan Maragall before and had read a lot of his poetry, finding it beautiful, fierce and – once you scratch the surface – surprisingly complex. I decided there and then during that phone call to publish the book – it was a no-brainer for me”.

Ronald Puppo is a research fellow at the Universitat de Vic–Universitat Central de Catalunya and has taught translation and English studies since 1994. He has published articles and reviews in Babel, Catalan Review, Translation Review and other journals, and book chapters for Reichenberger and Routledge. Translator of several Catalan poets, notably Jacint Verdaguer and Joan Maragall, his full-length, annotated translation of Verdaguer’s foundational epic, Mount Canigó: A tale of Catalonia, was awarded the 2016 “Serra d’Or” Critics Prize for Research in Catalan Studies.

Online event

Also included in One day of Life is Life are some of Maragall’s pieces of prose work and personal letters, that shed light onto the man himself. Accompanying all this are Puppo’s own indepth comments and insights. Puppo will talk about his Maragall translations today, Wednesday 18 November, at 9PM (CET) in an online event.

Doug Suttle is both happy and proud about the book: “Fum d’Estampa is a vehicle to bring Catalan literature to the rest of the world and who better to spearhead our 2020 list than one of Catalonia’s – and Europe’s – great poets. When I first read Ron’s translation I was blown away. He had taken each poem and had seamlessly turned them into English whilst maintaining metre, meaning and – at times – even rhyme! And the more I read, the more amazed I was by the translation. One Day of Life is Life is an important book, a collection of wonderful poems that should be read by all, and a beautiful translation from a real artist”.