Clementina Arderiu (Barcelona, 1889-1976) was a poet.

Critics place her within Postsymbolism, a movement born in 1915 with the aim of revitalizing the existing Noucentisme movement. In 1913 she was included in Antologia de poetes catalans d'avui (Anthology of Today’s Catalan Poets) of the influential cultural magazine L'Avenç. She married the poet Carles Riba in 1916, but her poetry seemed more akin to another great name of the period, Josep Carner. The first book she published was Cançons i elegies (Songs and Elegies – 1916). It was followed by such titles as Sempre i ara (Always and Now – 1946), which won the Joaquim Folguera Prize in 1938, És a dir (That is to Say – 1958) and L'esperança encara (Hope Yet – 1969). The most characteristic form of her work is the song, while her thematic material oscillates between love, a certain kind of religious sentiment and femininity.

Her generation was deeply determined by the Spanish Civil War. She and her husband lived exiled in France until 1943. With their return to Barcelona, both became symbols and role models for the new generation of Catalan poets.

Her poetic work was compiled by herself in Obra poètica (1973).



Web page by X. R. Trigo for AELC.
Photographs: Arxiu de Xavier Riba. Cover photograph by Mercè Riba, 1969.
Translated by Josep Miàs.