Montserrat Abelló i Soler (1 February 1918 – 9 September 2014)
was a Catalan

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...

and

translator Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transl ...

. During the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War ( es, Guerra Civil Española)) or The Revolution ( es, La Revolución, link=no) among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War ( es, Cuarta Guerra Carlista, link=no) among Carlists, and The Rebellion ( es, La Rebelión, link ...

, she lived in exile in France, England and Chile.

Translations

English to Catalan

A graduate in English

philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

, Abelló i Soler has produced a number of notable translations into Catalan of English writers and poets including: *

Sylvia Plath Sylvia Plath (; October 27, 1932 – February 11, 1963) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer. She is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry and is best known for two of her published collections, '' Th ...

* Dylan Thomas *

E.M. Forster Edward Morgan Forster (1 January 1879 – 7 June 1970) was an English author, best known for his novels, particularly '' A Room with a View'' (1908), ''Howards End'' (1910), and ''A Passage to India'' (1924). He also wrote numerous short stor ...

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her ...

Mohsen Emadi Mohsen Emadi ( fa, محسن عمادی) (born 29 October 1976) is an Iranian-Mexican poet, translator and filmmaker. Born and raised in Iran, he left for Finland in 2009 and has resided primarily in Mexico since 2012, working as a lecturer and r ...

Catalan to English

Abelló i Soler has also produced translations from Catalan to English of writers including: *

Salvador Espriu Salvador Espriu i Castelló (; 10 July 1913 – 22 February 1985) was a Catalan poet. Biography Espriu was born in Santa Coloma de Farners, Catalonia, Spain. He was the son of an attorney. He spent his childhood between his home town, Barcelon ...

Mercè Rodoreda Mercè Rodoreda i Gurguí (; 10 October 1908 – 13 April 1983) was a Catalan novelist. She is considered the most influential contemporary Catalan language writer, as evidenced by the references of other authors in her work and the internation ...

* Maria Àngels Anglada * Maria Mercè Marçal * Olga Xirinacs Díaz

Written works

Abelló i Soler has also written a number of books of poetry: * ''Vida diària'' ("Daily life") (1963) * ''Vida diària: Paraules no dites'' ("Daily Life: Words not said") (1981) * ''El blat del temps'' ("The Wheat of Time") (1986) * ''Foc a les mans'' ("Fire in Hand") (1990) * ''L’arrel de l’aigua'' ("The Root of Water") (1995) * ''Son màscares que m’emprovo'' ("Masks of Sleep that I Try") (1995) * ''Dins l’esfera del temps'' ("In the Sphere of Time") (1998) which won the Gold Critica Serra prize in 1999. * ''Asseguda escrivint'' ("Seated Writing") (2004) * ''Memoria de tu i de mi'' ("Memories of You and Me") (2006) In 2002, her poetry was compiled in ''Al cor de les paraules: obra poètica 1963-2002'' ("In the Heart of Words: Poetic Works 1963-2002"), which in 2003 won several Catalan literary prizes. She has also contributed to anthologies of writing and poetry: * ''Cares a la finestra: 20 dones poetes de parla anglesa del segle XX'' ("Faces in the Window: 20 English Women Poets of the 20th century") (1993) * ''Cartografies del desig: Quinze escriptores i el seu món'' ("Cartography of Desire: Fifteen writers and their world") (1998) * ''Memoria de l’aigua: Onze escriptores i el seu món'' ("Memories of Water: Eleven writers and their world") (1999) * ''Paisatge emergent'' ("Emergent Landscape") (1999).

Awards

* "Creu de Sant Jordi" (the Cross of Saint George) for her work as a translator (1998). * "Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes" (Catalan Letters Lifetime Achievement Award) (2008).

External links

Montserrat Abelló
at the Association of Catalan Language Writers (AELC). In English, Catalan and Spanish
Webpage devoted to Montserrat Abelló at LletrA (UOC), Catalan Literature Online)
(English)

Sources

* ''Diccionari de la Literatura Catalana'', 2008

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Abello I Soler, Montserrat Poets from Catalonia 1918 births 2014 deaths Translators from Catalonia Catalan–English translators English–Catalan translators Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes winners People from Tarragona 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century translators Spanish expatriates in the United Kingdom Spanish expatriates in France Spanish expatriates in Chile Catalan-language writers