Pere Gimferrer (Barcelona, 1945) is a poet, prose writer, translator and literary critic.

He studied Law and Philosophy at the University of Barcelona and, at a very early age, revealed considerable gifts as a poet with his first works in Spanish: Mensaje del tetrarca (Message from the Tetrarch, 1963), Arde el mar (The Sea Is Burning, 1966, winner of the National Poetry Prize) and La muerte en Beverly Hills (Death in Beverly Hills, 1968). His first collection of poems to be published in Catalan was Els miralls (The Mirrors, 1970), which was followed by the titles Hora foscant (Darkening Hour, 1972) and Foc cec (Blind Fire, 1973). He was awarded the 1978 Lletra d'Or Prize for L'espai desert (Deserted Space 1977). In 1981 his earlier titles, together with the work Aparicions (Apparitions) were published as the collection of poems titled Mirall, espai, aparicions (Mirror, Space, Apparitions). He received the City of Barcelona Prize, the National Prize for Literature and the "Serra d'Or" Critics' Prize for El vendaval (High Wind, 1988), after which he published La llum (Light, 1990), Mascarada (Masquerade, 1996), El Diamant dins l'aigua (Diamond in the Water, 2001) and El castell de la puresa (The Castle of Purity, 2014).

In 1985 he was elected to the Spanish Royal Academy of Language and, in 1989, he was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi (St George Cross) by the Generalitat (Government) of Catalonia. He is a member of the Royal Academy of Belles Lletres of Barcelona (2008).

He writes as a critic for several publications and has published a considerable number of major essays, including La poesia de J.V. Foix (The Poetry of J. V. Foix, 1974), Antoni Tàpies i l'esperit català (Antoni Tàpies and the Catalan Spirit, 1974), Max Ernst o la dissolució de la identitat (Max Ernst or the Dissolution of Identity, 1977), Miró, colpir sense nafrar (Miró, Beating without Wounding, 1978), Radicalidades (Radicalisms, 1978), Lecturas de Octavio Paz (Readings of Octavio Paz, 1980), Los raros (Odd People, 1985) and Les arrels de Miró (Miró's Roots, 1993). He has translated Joan Brossa, Gabriel Ferrater, Ausiàs March, Mercè Rodoreda and other authors into Spanish, while his translations into Catalan include works by Stendhal, Voltaire and Flaubert.

Writing in Catalan and Spanish, Pere Gimferrer is one of the most outstanding figures in contemporary Catalan and Spanish poetry and literature, as well as being essential for understanding them.

He is a member of the Association of Catalan Language Writers (AELC).



Web page: Toni Terrades for AELC.
Documentation: Toni Terrades.
Photographs: © Carme Esteve/AELC.
Translation by Julie Wark.