Montserrat Abelló i Soler

Montserrat Abelló i Soler (1 February 1918 – 9 September 2014) was a Spanish Catalan poet and translator. She translated works of literature from English to her native Catalan, and from Catalan into English.

Montserrat Abelló i Soler

Early life and education

Abelló i Soler was born in Tarragona, in the Province of Tarragona. During the Spanish Civil War, she lived in exile in France, England and Chile.

Translations

From English to Catalan

She translated works by American novelist Sylvia Plath, Welsh novelist Dylan Thomas, English writer E. M. Forster, Irish-born British author Iris Murdoch and Iranian translator Mohsen Emadi

From Catalan to English

She translated works by writers Salvador Espriu, Mercè Rodoreda, Maria Àngels Anglada, Maria Mercè Marçal and Olga Xirinacs Díaz.

Writing

She published works of poetry in Catalan.

• 1963 - Vida diària ("Daily life")
• 1981 - Vida diària: Paraules no dites ("Daily Life: Words not said")
• 1986 - El blat del temps ("The Wheat of Time")
• 1990 - Foc a les mans ("Fire in Hand")
• 1995 - L’arrel de l’aigua ("The Root of Water")
• 1995 - Son màscares que m’emprovo ("Masks of Sleep that I Try")
• 1998 - Dins l’esfera del temps ("In the Sphere of Time") which won the Gold Critica Serra prize in 1999
• 2004 - Asseguda escrivint ("Seated Writing")
• 2006 - Memoria de tu i de mi ("Memories of You and Me")

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 (collections) of writing and poetry:

• 1993 - 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")
• 1998 - Cartografies del desig: Quinze escriptores i el seu món ("Cartography of Desire: Fifteen writers and their world")
• 1999 - Memoria de l’aigua: Onze escriptores i el seu món ("Memories of Water: Eleven writers and their world")
• 1999 - Paisatge emergent ("Emergent Landscape")

Death

Abelló i Soler died on 9 September 2014 in Barcelona, aged 96.

Other websites

• Montserrat Abelló i Soler at the Association of Catalan Language Writers (AELC)