Pons, Josep Sebastiá 1886-1962

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PONS, Josep Sebastiá 1886-1962

PERSONAL: Born 1886 in Illa de Riberal, Roussillon, France; died 1962; married. Education: Attended Universitat de Montpeller.

CAREER: Poet.

WRITINGS:

El Bon Pedriç: Poesies Rossellonesses, Imprempta Catalana d'en J. Comet (Perpignan, Spain), 1919.

Josep Sebastiá Pons, prologue by Carles Soldevila, Edicions Lira (Barcelona, Spain), 1923.

Chante-Perdrix, Canta-Perdiu, E. Champion (Paris, France), 1925.

(With Louis Pastre) Éléments de Grammaire Catalane: Rédigée Conformément aux Régles Orthographiques en usage dans la Littérature Moderne, Imprimerie Catalane (Perpignan, Spain), 1925.

La Littérature Catalane en Roussilon au XVIIe et au XVIIIe Siécle (criticism), E. Privat (Toulouse, France), 1929.
L'aire I la Fulla, Edicions La Branca (Barcelona, Spain), 1930.

Raymond Lulle et le Plant de Notre Dame Saine Marie . . . , (Barcelona, Spain), 1936.

Concert d'été: Poéms, Flammarion (Paris, France), 1945.

Conversa: Poémes de Josep-Sebastiá Pons (title means "Conversation"), Institute d'estudis Occitans (Tolosa, France), 1950.

Llibre de les Set Sivelles: Proses del Rosselló, Editorial Selecta (Barcelona, Spain), 1956.

Canta peridu: Poemes, Editorial Barcino (Barcelona, Spain), 1960.

Paisatge Familiar: 25 Poemes de Josep Sebastiá Pons, prologue and notes by d'Esteve Albert, Edicions D'Aportacio Catalana (Barcelona, Spain), 1967.

Misteri de San Pere Urseol, prologue by d'Esteve Albert, Editorial Barcino (Barcelona, Spain), 1967.

Obra Poética, introduction by Tomas Garcés, Edicions 62 (Barcelona, Spain), 1976.

L'Ocell Tranquil: Narració Autobiográfica, Editorial Barcino (Barcelona, Spain), 1977.

Cantilena (title means "Chant"), Edicions 62 (Barcelona, Spain), 1980.

Poesia, Edicions 62 (Barcelona, Spain), 1985.

Antologia Poética, Edicions Proa (Barcelona, Spain), 1986.

Poesia Completa, Columna (Barcelona, Spain), 1988.

Teatre Complet, Columna (Barcelona, Spain), 1990.

Teatre, introduction by d'August Bover I Font, Institute del Teatre, Diputacio de Barcelona (Barcelona, Spain), 1990.

Prosa Completa, Columna (Barcelona, Spain), 1991.

Also author of poetry collections Roses I Xiprers ("Roses and Cypresses"), 1911; L'Estel de l'Escamot ("The Star of the Flock"), 1921; and Cambra d'Hivern ("Winter's Chamber"), 1966.

Author's works have been included in numerous anthologies.

SIDELIGHTS: Considered by many to be the most talented of a group of poets who came from the Roussillon area of Spain, Josep Sebastiá Pons wrote in Catalan, a language spoken throughout Spain and in parts of France and Italy. Pons has also been called the best modern poet of French Catalonia. His poetry has been compared in style to works by Virgil and is often described as "charming" and "fresh." Pons also wrote plays and prose, and most of his complete works can be found in volumes dedicated to each genre.

Pons is most acclaimed for his poetry. Obra Poética, published in 1976, contains nearly all of Pons's poems, including complete reprints of his early volumes of poems, from Roses I Xiprers, published in 1911, to Cambra d'Hivern, published in 1966, four years after his death. Many of his poems express the love for his homeland of Roussillon and of his interest in landscape. Pons was also extremely nostalgic and often wrote of the past and his own youth. Nevertheless, he would later write that evoking the past is essentially useless. Writing a review of the collection in World Literature Today, Albert M. Forcadas observed that Pons's Cantilena, which includes an extensive poem about his wife's death, "constitutes the best poetry of Pons." Commenting on Pons's work, Forcadas also noted, "It is delightful poetry not only because of its spontaneity and simplicity of expression, but also for its wealth of Roussillonian-Catalan expressions so charmingly and opportunely employed."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

Actes du Colloque Max Rouquette, Section Francaise de l'A.I.E.O. (Montpellier, France), 1993, pp. 38-46, 86-94.

Karl-Hermann, Korner, editor, Homenaje a Hans Flasche: Festschrit zum 80. Geburtstag am 25 November 1991, Steiner (Stuttgart, Germany), pp. 633-638.

Literatura y Bilinguismo: Homenaje a Pere Ramirez, Kassell (Reichenberger, Germany), 1993, pp. 43-53.