Josep Palàcios (Sueca, Ribera Baixa, 1938-2025) is a poet, fiction writer and translator. He is one of the most singular, rigorous and hermetic of writers in Catalan literature.

In 1958 he was awarded the Valencia Prize for Literature and Poetry for his book Les quatre estacions (The Four Seasons, 1959). After years of silence, he began to work closely with Manuel Boix who illustrated several of his books including Ocells, miralls (Birds, Mirrors, 1981) and La serp, el riu (The Snake, the River, 1986). In this period his book Devastació de ticromart (Ticromart Devastation) was awarded the 1981 Valencian Critics’ Prize. Also notable are the collections titled Inventari (Inventory, 1984) and Frontissa (Hinge, 1986).

He also published the essay Acròstic (Acrostic, 1982) and alfaBet (alphaBet, 1989), winner of the 1990 Serra d'Or Critics’ Prize. After another period of silence he published the long poem Un nu (A Nude, 2009). Part of his work has been collected into the two volumes of La imatge (The Image, 2013).

He was an honorary member of Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC – Association of Catalan Language Writers).



Web page: Toni Terrades for AELC.
Documentation: Toni Terrades. 

Photograph: © Jesús Ciscar.
Translated by Julie Wark.