Background

Maria-Mercè Marçal was born on November 13, 1952, in Ivars d'Urgell, Spain. She was the daughter of Antoni Marçal and Maria Serra.

Education

Maria-Mercè Marçal completed her secondary schooling in Lleida. She studied classical philology at the University of Barcelona. There she soon came to know other young poets, such as Ramon Pinyol, Xavier Bru de Sala, and, later, Miquel Desclot, Jaume Medina.

Career

Maria-Mercè Marçal wrote in Catalan, a romance language spoken throughout Spain and also in Andorra, France, and Italy’s Sardinia Island. Her first book of poems, Can de llunes, won the Carles Riba prize, named after the Catalan poet. The poems focus on the themes of love, social and political issues, and feminism. In her 1979 collection of poetry, Bruixa de Dol, Marçal experiments with various forms of poetry, from formal sonnets to more playful childlike poetry.

In her 1982 collection, Terra de Mai, Manual writes in a medieval-style following a six-line, six-stanza verse form. It was the first description of lesbian love in Catalan literature. As a parent, Marçal also wrote of motherhood. Marçal also authored the novel Le Passiô segons Renée Vivien. She was a translator of European women’s writing. She was a professor of Catalan language and literature at the University of Barcelona.

Achievements

• Maria-Mercè Marçal is best remembered for her poems. Although her poems have been translated into English, Marçal received little widespread critical notice, perhaps because of the poor distribution of her work. Her novel, The Passion according to Renée Vivien, was translated into four languages (German, Italian, Slovenian, and Spanish). She also received several awards for her books.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Cau de llunes 1977
  • Bruixa de dol 1979
  • Sal oberta 1982
  • Terra de mai 1982
  • Desglaç 1988
  • Raó del cos 2000
  • Contraban de llum: Antologia poètica 2001
  • El meu amor sense casa 2003
  • La passió segons Renée Vivien 1994

Politics

Maria-Mercè Marçal was a member of the Socialist Party of National Liberation (PSAN) and participated in the Assembly of Catalonia.

Views

Maria-Mercè Marçal was a feminist.

Connections

In 1972 Maria Mercè Marçal married Ramon Pinyol Balasch. In 1976 the couple divorced. In 1980 her daughter, Heura Marçal, was born.

Father:

Antoni Marçal

Mother:

Maria Serra

ex-spouse:

Ramon Pinyol Balasch

Daughter:

Heura Marçal

Acquaintance:

Xavier Bru de Sala

Acquaintance:

Miquel Desclot

Acquaintance:

Jaume Medina

References

• Contemporary Authors
  2011
• Constructing Feminine Poetics in the Works of a Late-20th-Century Catalan Woman Poet: Maria-Merce Marcal
  2014