Maria Mercè Marçal i Serra (13 November 1952 – 5 July 1998) was a Catalan poet, professor, writer and translator from Spain.

Biography

Marçal was born in Barcelona but spent her childhood in Ivars d'Urgell (

Pla d'Urgell Pla d'Urgell () is a comarca (county) in the Ponent region of Catalonia, Spain. The capital is the city of Mollerussa Mollerussa () is the capital of the '' comarca'' of Pla d'Urgell, in the province of Lleida, Catalonia Catalonia is a ...

), which she considered her home. Her mother was Maria Serra, a woman who loved theater and songs, and her father was Antoni Marçal, who had to leave college for family reasons. She had a sister Magda. She went to

high-school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

, at the Institut de Lleida, after receiving a scholarship. She then studied literature at the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

, earning a degree in Classical Philology there. She went on to become a Professor of Catalan Language and Literature. In 1972, Marçal married the poet Ramon Pinyol Balasch. They separated some time afterward. In 1973, she was co-founder of the publishing house Llibres del Mall with her husband and another young Catalan poet, Xavier Bru de Sala. In 1980, her daughter Heura was born, an experience that she transformed into tender poetry. In 1992 she proposed the creation of Catalan Women Writers as part of the Catalan Centre for PEN. She translated into Catalan works by both French and Russian writers:

Colette Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (; 28 January 1873 – 3 August 1954), known as Colette or Colette Willy, was a French author and woman of letters. She was also a Mime artist, mime, actress, and journalist. Colette is best known in the English-speaki ...

Marguerite Yourcenar Marguerite Yourcenar (, ; ; born Marguerite Antoinette Jeanne Marie Ghislaine Cleenewerck de Crayencour; 8 June 190317 December 1987) was a Belgian-born French novelist and essayist who became a US citizen in 1947. Winner of the Prix Femina and ...

Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...

Marina Tsvetaeva Marina Ivanovna Tsvetaeva ( rus, Марина Ивановна Цветаева, p=mɐˈrʲinə ɪˈvanəvnə tsvʲɪˈta(j)ɪvə, links=yes; 31 August 1941) was a Russian poet. Her work is some of the most well-known in twentieth-century Russ ...

Baudelaire Charles Pierre Baudelaire (, ; ; 9 April 1821 – 31 August 1867) was a French poet, essayist, translator and art critic. His poems are described as exhibiting mastery of rhythm and rhyme, containing an exoticism inherited from the Romantics, an ...

and

Leonor Fini Leonor Fini (30 August 1907 – 18 January 1996) was an Argentine-Italian surrealist painter, designer, illustrator, and author, known for her depictions of powerful and erotic women. Early life Fini was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Ma ...

. Marçal died in Barcelona in 1998 of

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

, aged 45.

Legacy

Marina Rossell, Teresa Rebull,

Ramon Muntaner Ramon Muntaner () (1265 – 1336) was a Catalan mercenary and writer who wrote the '' Crònica'', a chronicle of his life, including his adventures as a commander in the Catalan Company. He was born at Peralada. Biography The Catalan Com ...

, Txiqui Berraondo,

Maria del Mar Bonet Maria del Mar Bonet i Verdaguer (Balearic Catalan: ; born 1947 in Palma de Mallorca) is a Spanish singer from the island of Majorca. Early life and career Bonet studied ceramics in the school of arts, but eventually decided to dedicate herself ...

, Celdoni Fonoll and Gisela Bellsolà have sung Marçal's poems.

Works

In 1976, Marçal's first book of poems ''Cau de llunes'' (winning the Carles Riba Prize), introduced by a splendid poetic

sestina A sestina (, from ''sesto'', sixth; Old Occitan: ''cledisat'' ; also known as ''sestine'', ''sextine'', ''sextain'') is a fixed verse, fixed verse form consisting of six stanzas of six lines each, normally followed by a three-line envoi. The wor ...

penned by Joan Brossa, includes the poem "Divisa," which is like a manifesto summarizing what guided her activism:

''To fate I am grateful for three gifts: having been born a woman,'' ''of low class and oppressed nation.'' ''And the turbid azure of being three times a rebel.''

Marçal's influential second book, ''Bruixa de dol'' or ''Witch in Mourning'' (1979), has been translated into English. Her only novel, ''The Passion according to Renée Vivien'', was published in 1994. Following on from ten years of work researching the life and poetry of Vivien, this poetic almost-biographical novel won several awards such as the Premi Carlemany, Premi de la Crítica, the Prudenci Bertrana award, the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes award, the Crítica Serra d'Or prize and the Joan Crexells award. It was translated into English and published by Francis Boutle Publishers in 2020.

Selected publications

Source: *''Cau de llunes''. Barcelona: Proa, 1977. *''Bruixa de dol'' (1977–1979). Sant Boi de Llobregat: Llibres del Mall, 1979. *''Terra de mai''. Valencia: El cingle, 1982. *''Sal oberta''. Sant Boi de Llobregat: Llibres del Mall, 1982. *''La germana, l'estrangera'' (1981–1984). Sant Boi de Llobregat: Llibres del Mall, 1985. *''Contraclaror: antologia poètica, de Clementina Arderiu''. Barcelona: La Sal, edicions de les dones, 1985. *''Desglaç'' (1984–1988). Barcelona: Edicions 62 - Empúries, 1988. *''Llengua abolida'' (1973–1988). Valencia: Climent, 1989. *''La passió segons Renée Vivien''. Barcelona: Proa, 1994. *''Paisatge emergent: trenta poetes catalanes del S.XX''. Barcelona: La Magrana, 1999. *''Raó del cos''. Barcelona: Edicions 62 - Empúries, 2000. *''Contraban de llum: antologia poètica''. Barcelona: Proa, 2001. *''El meu amor sense casa'' (CD). Barcelona: Proa, 2003. * ''Witch in Mourning''. Translation of ''Bruixa de dol''. London: Francis Boutle Publishers, 2023.

References

External links

*
Maria-Mercè Marçal - Escriptors

Fundació Maria-Mercè Marçal
in Catalan. * *Poems: http://www.barcelonareview.com/46/c_mmm.htm *Poems in English: https://exchanges.uiowa.edu/issues/fledglings/marcal-moneyhun/ {{DEFAULTSORT:Marcal I Serra, Maria Merce Spanish translators Catalan-language writers Translators to Catalan 1952 births 1998 deaths Translators from Catalonia Women writers from Catalonia LGBTQ people from Catalonia Deaths from cancer in Spain University of Barcelona alumni Spanish women poets 20th-century Spanish poets 20th-century Spanish translators 20th-century Spanish women writers Spanish LGBTQ poets Spanish lesbian writers Lesbian poets Catalan-language poets