Juan Marsé
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Juan Marsé Carbó (8 January 1933 – 18 July 2020) was a Spanish
novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...
,
journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...
, and screenwriter who used Spanish as his literary language. In 2008, he was awarded the
Cervantes Prize The Miguel de Cervantes Prize ( es, Premio de Literatura en Lengua Castellana Miguel de Cervantes) is awarded annually to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language. History The prize was established in 1975 ...
, "the Spanish-language equivalent" to the Nobel Prize in Literature.


Biography

Marsé was born Juan Faneca Roca in Barcelona. His mother died in childbirth, and he was soon adopted by the Marsé family, taking the name Juan Marsé Carbó. At age 14, without finishing his studies, Marsé began to work as a jewelry apprentice. He spent some time working in the Barcelonès magazine 'Arcinema' and began his literary career in 1958 with some stories that appeared in 'Insula' and 'El Ciervo' magazines. His story, ''Nada para morir'', won the Sésamo Prize, and in 1958 he published his first novel, ''Encerrados con un solo juguete'' (''Locked up with a Single Toy''), which was a finalist of the Biblioteca Breve Seix Barral Prize. Afterwards, he spent two years in
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
working as "garçon de laboratoire" at the
Pasteur Institute The Pasteur Institute (french: Institut Pasteur) is a French non-profit private foundation dedicated to the study of biology, micro-organisms, diseases, and vaccines. It is named after Louis Pasteur, who invented pasteurization and vaccines ...
and translating screenplays and teaching Spanish. Back in Spain he wrote ''Esta cara de la luna'' (''This Side of the Moon''), repudiated and never included in his complete works. In 1965 he won the Biblioteca Breve Prize with ''Últimas tardes con Teresa'' (''Last Evenings with Teresa''). He married Joaquina Hoyas and began working in
advertising Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...
and writing dialogues for films. He wrote ''La oscura historia de la prima Montse'' (''The Dark Story of Cousin Montse''), which was not very successful, and ''Si te dicen que caí'' (''If They Tell You I Fell''), based on the murder of Carmen Broto. The latter was published in Mexico due to
Francoist Francoist Spain ( es, España franquista), or the Francoist dictatorship (), was the period of Spanish history between 1939 and 1975, when Francisco Franco ruled Spain after the Spanish Civil War with the title . After his death in 1975, Spai ...
censorship Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governments ...
and won the Novel International Prize. In 1974, he started a column in the magazine ''Por Favor'' while continuing writing for the film industry. His novel ''La muchacha de las bragas de oro'' (''Girl with Golden Panties'') won the Planeta Prize in 1978, which made him known to the general public. He wrote two novels about post-war
Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...
, ''Un día volveré'' (''One Day I'll Come Back'') and ''Ronda del Guinardó'', followed by the collection of short stories, ''Teniente Bravo''. In the 1990s, he received numerous prizes, including Ateneo de Sevilla Prize for ''El amante bilingüe'' (''The Bilingual Lover'') and the Critic Prize and
Aristeion Prize The Aristeion Prize was a European literary annual prize. It was given to authors for significant contributions to contemporary European literature, and to translators for exceptional translations of contemporary European literary works. The priz ...
for ''El embrujo de Shanghai'' (''The Shanghai Spell''). In 1997 he was awarded the Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature. After seven years of silence he published ''Rabos de Lagartija'' (''Lizards' Tails''), which won the Critic Prize and Narrative National Prize. Marsé was the winner of the 2008
Cervantes Prize The Miguel de Cervantes Prize ( es, Premio de Literatura en Lengua Castellana Miguel de Cervantes) is awarded annually to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language. History The prize was established in 1975 ...
, the most prestigious award for Spanish-language literature. MacLehose Press published ''The Calligraphy of Dreams'' in 2014. Marsé died on 18 July 2020.


Film adaptations

*''The Dark History of Cousin Montse'' (Jordi Cadena, 1977) *''
Girl with the Golden Panties ''The Girl with the Golden Panties'' ( es, La Muchacha de las Bragas de Oro) is a 1980 Spanish film directed by Vicente Aranda and released through Morgana Films. It stars Victoria Abril and Lautaro Murúa. The plot follows a middle-aged writer as ...
'' (
Vicente Aranda Vicente Aranda Ezquerra (; 9 November 1926 – 26 May 2015) was a Spanish film director, screenwriter and producer. Due to his refined and personal style, he was one of the most renowned Spanish filmmakers. He started as a founding member ...
, 1980) *''Last Evenings with Teresa'' (Gonzalo Herralde, 1984) *''If you say that I fell'' (Vicente Aranda, 1989) *'' The Bilingual Lover'' (Vicente Aranda, 1993) *''Domenica'' - adapted from Ronda del Guinardó (Wilma Labate, 2001) *'' The Shanghai Spell'' (
Fernando Trueba Fernando Rodríguez Trueba (born 18 January 1955), known as Fernando Trueba, is a Spanish book editor, screenwriter, film director and producer. Between 1974 and 1979, he worked as a film critic for Spain's leading daily newspaper ''El País''. ...
, 2002) *'' Lolita's Club'' (Vicente Aranda, 2007)


External links


Official Site of Juan Marsé
(in Spanish)
Guided tour of locations featured in Marsé's novels


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marse, Juan 1933 births 2020 deaths Writers from Barcelona Premio Cervantes winners 20th-century Spanish novelists 21st-century Spanish novelists Spanish male novelists 20th-century Spanish male writers 21st-century Spanish male writers