Josep Maria Castellet facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Josep Maria Castellet
Josep Maria Castellet in March 2009.
Born	Josep Maria Castellet Díaz de Cossío (1926-12-15)15 December 1926 Barcelona, Spain
Died	9 January 2014(2014-01-09) (aged 87) Barcelona, Spain
Other names	José María Castellet
Occupation	Writer, poet, literacy critic, publisher, editor
Years active	1955–2012

Josep Maria Castellet Díaz de Cossío (born December 15, 1926 – died January 9, 2014) was a famous Spanish and Catalan writer. He was also a poet, a literary critic (someone who studies and writes about books), a publisher, and an editor. He was sometimes known as José María Castellet.

Born in Barcelona, Spain, he started his writing career in 1955. He wrote novels and poems in both Catalan and Spanish. His last book was published in 2012.

Josep Maria Castellet was very important in Spanish and Catalan culture during the second half of the 20th century. He was the main editor of a publishing company called Edicions 62 for many years. He also helped start and lead the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengena Catalana (Catalan writers association). He passed away in his hometown of Barcelona in 2014, when he was 87 years old.

About His Life

Castellet learned to be a literary critic by working for university magazines. He was very active in a magazine called Laye from 1950 to 1954. Here, he shared his thoughts on Spanish literature of his time. His first collection of articles, Notas sobre literatura española contemporánea (Notes on contemporary Spanish literature), came out in 1955.

His Early Works

Castellet wanted to bring new ideas to literature. He also wanted to introduce European literary criticism to Spain. This led him to write La hora del lector (The reader's hour) in 1957. He also wanted to show off young poets who had started writing in Laye. So, he published a collection of their poems called Veinte años de poesía española (20 years of Spanish poetry) in 1960. This book was quite talked about because it supported "historic realism." This was a style of writing that focused on real-life events and history.

Ten years later, he published another collection, Nueve novísimos poetas españoles (Nine brand-new Spanish poets) in 1970. This book showed a shift towards new poetry styles, moving away from realism. In 1963, Castellet also worked with Joaquim Molas on Poesia catalana del segle XX (20th century Catalan poetry). This book also followed the idea of historic realism, which Castellet explained more deeply in his book Poesia, realisme, història (Poetry, realism, history) in 1965.

Later Writings and Reflections

During this time, Castellet wrote two very important books that are still used today. One was Iniciació a la poesia de Salvador Espriu (Initiation to Salvador Espriu's poetry) from 1971. In this book, he looked closely at the poems of Salvador Espriu. The other was Josep Pla o la raó narrativa (Josep Pla or narrative reason) from 1978. This book explored the rich storytelling in Josep Pla's work.

In 1983, he wrote Per un debat sobre la cultura a Catalunya (For a debate on culture in Catalonia). In this book, he thought about the role of culture in Spain after it became a democracy. He also considered how culture fit into the self-governing region of Catalonia. His last works were his memories. The first one, Dietari de 1973 (Diary of 1973), was published in 2007. His final book, Memòries confidencials d'un editor. Tres escriptors amics (Confidential memories of a publisher. Three befriended writers), came out in 2012.

His Published Works

Here is a list of some of the books Josep Maria Castellet wrote or helped create:

• 1955. Notas sobre literatura española contemporánea (Notes on contemporary Spanish literature), Laye, Barcelona.
• 1957. La hora del lector (The reader's hour), Seix Barral, Barcelona.
• 1958. La evolución espiritual de E. Hemingway (The spiritual evolution of E. Hemingway), Taurus, Madrid.
• 1960. Veinte años de poesía española (Twenty years of Spanish poetry), Seix Barral, Barcelona.
• 1963. Poesia catalana del segle XX (20th century Catalan poetry), Edicions 62, Barcelona. (With Joaquim Molas).
• 1965. Poesia, realisme, història (Poetry, realism, history), Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 1969. Lectura de Marcuse (Reading Marcuse), Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 1969. Ocho siglos de poesia catalana (Eight centuries of Catalan poetry), Alianza Editorial, Madrid. (With J. Molas).
• 1970. Nueve novísimos poetas españoles (Nine brand-new Spanish poets), Barral Editores, Barcelona.
• 1971. Iniciación a la poesía de Salvador Espriu (Introduction to Salvador Espriu's poetry), Taurus Ediciones, Madrid.
• 1975. Qüestions de literatura, política i societat (Questions of literature, politics and society), Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 1976. Literatura, ideología y política (Literature, ideology and politics), Anagrama, Barcelona.
• 1977. Maria Girona. Una pintura en llibertat (Maria Girona. Painting in liberty), Edicions 62, Barcelona. (With Anna Maria Moix).
• 1978. Josep Pla o la raó narrativa (Josep Pla or narrative reason), Edicions Destino, Barcelona.
• 1979. Antologia general de la poesia catalana (General anthology of Catalan poetry), Edicions 62, Barcelona. (With J. Molas).
• 1983. Per un debat sobre la cultura a Catalunya (For a debate on culture in Catalonia), Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 1984. Generation von 27. Gedichte (The generation of 27. Poems), Suhrkamp Verlag, Frankfurt am Main. (With Pere Gimferrer).
• 1985. La cultura y las culturas (Culture and the cultures), Argos Vergara, Barcelona.
• 1987. L'hora del lector. Seguit de Poesia, realisme, història (The reader's hour. Followed by Poetry, realism and history), Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 1987. Memòries poc formals d'un editor literari, extret del llibre 'Edicions 62. Vint-i-cinc anys (1962–1987) (Informal memories of a literary editor, taken from the book 'Edicions 62, 25 years (1962–1987)), Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 1988. Els escenaris de la memòria (Memory's stages). Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 1988. Los escenarios de la memoria (Memory's stages, in Spanish), Anagrama, Barcelona.
• 2001. La hora del lector (The reader's hour). Ediciones Península, Barcelona.
• 2001. Nueve novísimos. Amb un “Apéndice documental” (Nine brand-new. With a documentary appendix), Ediciones Península, Barcelona.
• 2005. Vuit segles de poesia catalana (Eight centuries of Catalan poetry), Edicions 62, Barcelona. (With J. Molas).
• 2007. Dietari de 1973 (1973 Diary), Edicions 62, Barcelona.
• 2012. Memòries confidencials d'un editor. Tres escriptors amics (Confidential memories of a publisher. Three befriended writers), Edicions 62, Barcelona.

Awards and Honors

Josep Maria Castellet received many awards for his important contributions to literature and culture. Here are some of them:

Literary Awards

• Taurus d'assaig (Taurus essay award), 1970.
• Gaziel de periodisme (Gaziel journalism award), 1977.
• Premi Josep Pla de narrativa (Josep Pla Award) for Josep Pla o la raó narrativa, 1977.
• Premi Joanot Martorell de narrativa (Joanot Martorell award) for Escenaris de la memòria, 1987.
• Premi Crítica Serra d'Or de Literatura i Assaig#Biografies i memòries (Serra d'Or Critics award in the section of biography and memory) for Escenaris de la memòria, 1989.
• Premi de literatura catalana de la Generalitat, modalitat prosa (Catalan literature award for prose, awarded by the regional government of Catalonia), 1989.
• Premi Lletra d'Or (Golden Letter award) for Escenaris de la memòria, 1989.
• Premi Nacional a la Trajectòria Professional i Artística (National award for the professional and artistic lifetime achievement), 2009.
• Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas (National award of Spanish letters), 2010.

Medals and Recognitions

He also received several medals and honors from different governments and institutions:

• Creu de Sant Jordi of the Generalitat de Catalunya, 1983.
• Hungarian Medal Proculture of the Republic of Hungary, 1987.
• Officier de l'Ordre National du Mérite of the French government, 1988.
• Medalla de oro de las Bellas artes del Ministerio de Cultura (Gold Medal of Fine Arts from the Ministry of Culture), 1992.
• Medalla d'or al mèrit artístic de l'Ajuntament de Barcelona (Gold Medal for Artistic Merit from the Barcelona City Council), 1993.
• Medalla d'Or de la Generalitat de Catalunya (Gold Medal of the Generalitat de Catalunya), 2003.

See also

In Spanish: José María Castellet para niños