Joana Raspall (Barcelona, 1913 - Sant Feliu de Llobregat, 2013) is a writer and librarian. She has written three dictionaries —of synonyms, of locutions and set phrases, and of homonyms and paronyms— but she mainly writes theatre for children and poetry.

Apart from her studies in Librarianship, she has also studied Accountancy but her true passion is the Catalan language, which she has always defended, especially at times when the people of her country were denied the right to speak their native tongue. Her love for poetry and children has led her to write poetry for very young children, which has made her something of a pioneer of the genre in Catalonia. Her poetry for children, classical in style and in close harmony with the sensibility of small readers, emanates pure simplicity. Although she has always written poetry, it was quite late in life when she decided to start publishing it.

Joana Raspall's literary existence was always highly discreet, although she did visit schools and constantly participated in the literary life of her home town, Sant Feliu de Llobregat, for example through the Martí Dot Prize.

Joana Raspall was a member of honor of AELC (Association of Catalan Language Writers).



Web page: Eugènia Morer i Serra for AELC.
Up-date: Josep Miàs.
Translation: Julie Wark.
Photographs: © Marc Vila (Portal) and author's personal files.