–How do you manage to be a colossus, Feliu?
–What I have done is work, and as Espriu said, if you make a page every day, after a year you will have a work.
This is how the dialogue between the journalist Laura Pinyol and Feliu Formosa began in the tribute that the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes (ILC) paid this Thursday at the Biblioteca de Catalunya on the occasion of its 90th birthday on September 10. Indeed, Ella Formosa has worked hard, and she still does, as she demonstrates by not only having published three books of poems last year – L’incert founde and Ah, Yes? (poemes del confinat) (Llibres del Segle/Cafè Central) and –El temps sofert (Font del Cargol)–, but it already has two others woven together: on the one hand, Quid Pro Quo will collect three of the diaries in one volume – the first , The vulnerable present, was republished by Núvol-, while Lleonard Muntaner will publish Aproximacions, a book with 120 short texts on theater, poetry and personal relationships.
With the presence of numerous friends and colleagues such as Joaquim Carbó, Maria Barbal, Marta Nadal, Francesc Parcerisas, Lluïsa Julià, Enric Sòria, Glòria Bordons, Antoni Clapés, Dolors Udina, Eduard Sanahuja, Cinta Massip, Joan Casas, Tònia Passola, Antoni Martí Monterde, Jordi Solana Coll, Sebastià Portell or Bernat Puigtobella, the Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga opened the event by reminding that for Formosa “translation is the love of the language, it opens new paths to perpetuate the language and it is the starting point of creation”, with “a recognized and above all generous trajectory”, as can be seen in the exhibition Feliu Formosa, the power of the word that the Library of Catalonia shows until mid-June with a part of the funds that it gives now a year ago, and that its director, Eugènia Serra, wanted to thank: “There are 44 boxes with all kinds of documents that will help to “construct the puzzle of an era”, because heritage is not lost. The director of the ILC, Izaskun Arretxe, highlighted the recognition that “we are a country of poets with powerful young people, a brilliant past and living legacies” – recalling the recital a few days ago at the Palau de la Música.
“Feliu Formosa is an undeniable giant, whether as a poet, as a translator, playwright, dietician or, also, as a reader,” Arretxe recalled before passing the floor to Pinyol and Formosa, in a conversation that the honoree woven with anecdotes such as when, to illustrate those who have called him the “poet of waiting”, he explained that in the residence where he is now, in Igualada, “I live with forty people and no one knows who I am or what I do, yesterday the Florencia, which has 95 years, he told me that ‘here we no longer expect anything’, but I still expect many things.” He also talked about his latest translations, whether those he will publish soon, such as a new Bertolt Brecht, Goethe’s Roman Elegies in Adesiara and the 35 poems of Paul Klee, such as recent ones by the German Jewish poets Else Lasker-Schüler, Nelly Sachs and Rose Ausländer and the one who is now translating: Ilse Aichinger. Maybe he waits, but he doesn’t stop.
The translator Ramon Farrés has assured that “Feliu Formosa is one of the greatest translators, if not the greatest, of Catalan literature in all of history, both in terms of quantity and quality, with enormous dedication.” The actress Marissa Josa has remembered how they met when she was doing amateur theater in Terrassa, in 1968, and helped her become a professional, in addition to remembering some of the theater productions in which the two participated. Furthermore, she has insisted that “for an actor, a well-done translation, like yours, is a gem, because it is not difficult to memorize.” Jaume C. Pons Alorda, for his part, with his usual enthusiasm influenced his poetry, which Formosa himself defines as “pure metaphor” and has compared it to J.V. Foix because he is also “a researcher in poetry”, also in this advanced and prolific age. Before closing the tribute with a reading of poems by Montse Vellvehí and guitarist Marc Serra, Pons Alorda asked that, given that after having published the complete works twice he has already published a few more books: “There is a need for some new complete works!” With the production he has, perhaps they would have to be updated soon…
Catalan version, here
