Antonio Martínez Sarrión (1 February 1939 – 14 September 2021) was a Spanish poet and translator.

Early life and education

Martínez Sarrión was born in

Albacete Albacete (, also , ; ar, ﭐَلبَسِيط, Al-Basīṭ) is a city and municipality in the Spanish autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha, and capital of the province of Albacete. Lying in the south-ea ...

, Castilla-La Mancha. He graduated with his baccalaureate in law from the

University of Murcia The University of Murcia ( es, Universidad de Murcia) is the main university in Murcia, Spain. With 38,000 students, it is the largest university in the Región de Murcia. The University of Murcia is the third oldest university in Spain, after t ...

in 1961.

Career

In 1963, Martínez Sarrión moved to

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

where he worked as a public official in the

General State Administration The General State Administration ( es, Administración General del Estado) is one of the Public Administrations of Spain. It is the only administration with powers throughout the national territory and it is controlled by the central government. ...

. Between 1974 and 1976, he co-edited the literary magazine ''La Ilustración Poética Española e Iberoamericana'' with Jesús Munárriz and José Esteban. His work was included in the acclaimed anthology of the critic Josep Maria Castellet ''Nueve Novísimos Poetas Españoles (Nine Brand-New Spanish Poets)'', which established him as a contemporary Spanish poet. In contrast to the anti-realism of his contemporaries, the

Novísimos The Novísimos - translated as the "Newest Ones" - were a poetic group in Spain who took their name from an anthology in which the Catalan critic Josep Maria Castellet gathered the work of the majority of the youngest and most experimental poets i ...

, Martínez Sarrión is known for his ''sixtyeightish'' style that exhibits his admiration for

beat poetry The Beat Generation was a literary subculture movement started by a group of authors whose work explored and influenced American culture and politics in the post-war era. The bulk of their work was published and popularized by Silent Generatione ...

and the cultural, irrationalist, and mythical references (literature, cinema, jazz) that his fellows on the road would later adopt. Another aspect of his work is occupied by

memorialism Memorialism is the belief held by some Christian denominations that the elements of bread and wine (or juice) in the Eucharist (more often referred to as "the Lord's Supper" by memorialists) are purely symbolic representations of the body and ...

. He published many articles and a trilogy of memories, which occupies his childhood years (''Infancia y corrupciones'', 1993); his university education (''Una juventud'', 1996) and his ascension to literary life. (''Jazz y días de lluvia'', 2002) Martínez Sarrión was also a French translator. He created a Spanish version of the ''

Les fleurs du Mal ''Les Fleurs du mal'' (; en, The Flowers of Evil, italic=yes) is a volume of French poetry by Charles Baudelaire. ''Les Fleurs du mal'' includes nearly all Baudelaire's poetry, written from 1840 until his death in August 1867. First publish ...

'' (The Flowers of Evil) by

Charles Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poetry, French poet who also produced notable work as an essayist and art critic. His poems exhibit mastery in the handling of rhyme and rhythm, contain an exoticis ...

, and also translated Victor Hugo's work "''Lo que dice la boca de sombra y otros poemas"'' ("What the shadow mouth says and other poems"), ''Stendhal Translating Award'' in 1990. Other authors whose work he translated into Spanish are

Jean Genet Jean Genet (; – ) was a French novelist, playwright, poet, essayist, and political activist. In his early life he was a vagabond and petty criminal, but he later became a writer and playwright. His major works include the novels ''The Thief's ...

Michel Leiris Julien Michel Leiris (; 20 April 1901 in Paris – 30 September 1990 in Saint-Hilaire, Essonne) was a French surrealist writer and ethnographer. Part of the Surrealist group in Paris, Leiris became a key member of the College of Sociology with G ...

Alfred de Musset Alfred Louis Charles de Musset-Pathay (; 11 December 1810 – 2 May 1857) was a French dramatist, poet, and novelist.His names are often reversed "Louis Charles Alfred de Musset": see "(Louis Charles) Alfred de Musset" (bio), Biography.com, 2007 ...

, Nicolas Chamfort, Jacottet and

Arthur Rimbaud Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud (, ; 20 October 1854 – 10 November 1891) was a French poet known for his transgressive and surreal themes and for his influence on modern literature and arts, prefiguring surrealism. Born in Charleville, he starte ...

. He participated as a collaborator in the Spanish TV show ''Qué grande es el cine'' (How great cinema is) in ''La 2'' and ''Cine en blanco y negro'' (Cinema in black and white) in ''Telemadrid'', both presented and moderated by

José Luis Garci José Luis García Muñoz (born 20 January 1944), known professionally as José Luis Garci, is a Spanish Film director, film director, Film, producer, critic, TV presenter, screenwriter and author. He earned worldwide acclaim and his country's fi ...

Works

Poetry

* ''Teatro de operaciones'' (Operations theatre), Carboneras de Guadazaón, ''El toro de barro'', 1967. * ''Pautas para conjurados'' (Guidelines for conspirators), B., ''Col. El Bardo'', 1970. *''Ocho elegías con pie en versos antiguos'', (Eight elegies with roots in ancient verses) ''Papeles Son Armadans'', 64, 190 (1972), pp. 71–76. * ''Una tromba mortal para los balleneros'' (Deadly downpour for the whale hunters), B., ''Lumen'', 1975. *''Canción triste para una parva de heterodoxos'', (Sad song for a heterodoxical group) ''Papeles de Son Armadans'', 81, 242 (1976), pp. 157–162. * ''El centro inaccessible. Poesía 1967-1980'' (The inaccessible centre: Poetry 1967-1980), M., Hiperión, 1981 (with prologue of Jenaro Talens. Contains all his previous poetry books plus the unreleased ''El centro inaccessible''). * ''Horizonte desde la rada'' (Horizon from the stadium), M., Trieste, 1983. * ''Sequías'', (Droughts) M., ''Cuadernillos de Madrid'', 1983. * ''De acedia'', (Of acedia) M., ''Hiperión'', 1986. * ''Ejercicio sobre Rilke'', (Exercise over

Rilke René Karl Wilhelm Johann Josef Maria Rilke (4 December 1875 – 29 December 1926), shortened to Rainer Maria Rilke (), was an Austrian poet and novelist. He has been acclaimed as an idiosyncratic and expressive poet, and is widely recogni ...

) Pamplona, ''Pamiela'', 1988. * ''Antología poética'', (Poetic anthology) ed. Juan Carlos Gea, Albacete, ''Diputación'', 1994. * ''Cantil'', Granada, Comares, 1995; Murcia, ''Nausíkaä'', 2005. * ''Cordura'', (Sanity) B., ''Tusquets'', 1999. * ''Poeta en diwan'', (Poet in diwan) Barcelona, ''Tusquets'', 2004. * ''Última fe (Antología poética 1965–1999)'' (Last faith: Poetic anthology 1965–1999), ed. Ángel L. Prieto de Paula, Madrid, Cátedra, 2005.

Other genres

*''Diario austral'', (Austral diary) Madrid, ''Hiperión'', 1987. *''La cera que arde'', (The burning wax) Albacete, ''Diputación'', 1990. *''Infancia y corrupciones: Memorias I'', (Childhood and corruptions: Memories I) Madrid, ''

Alfaguara Alfaguara is a Spanish-language publishing house that serves markets in Latin America, Spain and the United States. It was founded by the Spanish writer and Nobel prize winner Camilo José Cela. History and profile Alfaguara was established in ...

'', 1993. *''Cargar la suerte - Diarios 1968-1992'', (Load the Luck - Diaries 1968-1992) Madrid, ''Alfaguara'', 1994. *''Una juventud - Memorias II)'', (A youth - Memories II) Madrid, ''Alfaguara'', 1996. *''Murcia: un perfil'', (Murcia: a profile) Cuenca, ''Ediciones Artesanas'', 1999. *''Esquirlas - Dietario 1993-1999'', (Fragments - Diary 1993-1999) Madrid, ''Alfaguara'', 2000. *''Jazz y días de lluvia - Memorias III)'', (Jazz and rainy days - Memories III) Madrid, ''Alfaguara'', 2002.

References

External links

Information about Martínez Sarrión with excerpts of his poetical works (In Spanish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martinez Sarrion, Antonio 1939 births 2021 deaths Spanish translators French–Spanish translators Spanish poets Novísimos Spanish male poets People from Albacete