Guillem Colom (Sóller, Mallorca 1890 – Palma, 1979) was a poet, playwright and translator with a humanist background. He studied classical languages in the seminary with Llorenç Riber as his teacher. In 1906 he went to study at the Institut Balear secondary school and between 1912 and 1917 he completed an Arts and Humanities degree at the University of Barcelona. In 1918 he moved to Madrid to study for a PhD. The same year he published his first volume of poems Iuvenília (Juvenilia) and began to write for the weekly publication Sóller. On his return from Madrid, he established his residence between Sóller and Palma in Mallorca. In 1925 he received the "Natural Flower" Award in the "Jocs Florals" literary completion of Sóller for his poem El Comte Mal (The Evil Count). Another poem, Cançons de la terra (Songs of the Earth, 1947) was the 1933 winner of the "Gold Eglantine" Prize in the Barcelona "Jocs Florals". In 1936 he was president of the jury in the "Jocs Florals" in Barcelona. Together with Damià Canals and Guillem Colom Casanovas, he co-founded the Sóller secondary school in 1937, during the Spanish Civil War.

In 1951 his work Antígona (Antigone) was premiered at the Romea Theatre in Barcelona. From 1953 to 1962 he was head of the Sóller Baccalaureate College. In the post-war years he produced a great number of works of literature, including Cançons de la terra (Songs of the Earth, 1947) and Ofrena mística (Mystic Offering, 1949). He was awarded a prize in the Perpignan "Jocs Florals" with El Comte Mal (1950), while his La terra al cor (My Land in My Heart, 1957), received the City of Palma Prize in 1956. In this period he also published the collections of poems Terra endins (Inland, 1950) and Pedrís al sol i altres poemes (Stone Bench in the Sun and Other Poems, 1956), as well as the plays Cecília de Solanda, (1945) and Jaume IV de Mallorca (James IV of Mallorca, 1955). In 1962 he received the Silver Crown Award for Balearic Island Poetry in recognition of his poetic oeuvre as a whole, while in 1963 he was named "Mestre en Gai Saber" (an honorary title of the "Jocs Florals" of Barcelona) and, in 1965, the Sóller Council proclaimed him an "Illustrious Son" of the town. His last volumes of poems are titled Primavera d'hivern (Winter's Spring, 1969), La Cendra dels talaiots i Oda a Pollentia (Ash of the Megaliths and Ode to Pollentia, 1970), and L'agonia del camp i oda a la ciutat (Agony of the Countryside and Ode to the City, 1972). His memoirs Entre el caliu i la cendra (Between Ember and Ash) were published in 1972.

He translated works by Frederic Mistral, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Thomas Merton and Luis de Camões. In addition, working with Miquel Dolç, he translated the Silvae by Statius as well as other works. Guillem Colom is deemed to be one of the last representatives of the Mallorca School.



Web page: Toni Terrades for AELC.
Documentation: Toni Terrades.
Photographs: Entre el caliu i la cendra: memòries (1890-1970). Barcelona: Pòrtic, 1972.
Translation: Julie Wark.