Video 1 Interview
Video 2 Poem
ALBERT ROIG (Tortosa, 1959)
Albert Roig is a poet, essayist, translator and teacher at the Theatre Institute in Barcelona. He has published two books of poems,
Córrer la taronja, 1979-2001 (2002) (Run the Orange, 1979-2001), and
A l’encesa (2007) ([Fishing] With Light). He has written the following books of essays:
L’estiu de les paparres (The Summer of the Pests),
El gos del poeta (The Poet’s Dog),
Creació del poema (Creation of the Poem) and
I pelava la taronja amb les dents (Ars amandi) [And Peeled the Orange with the Teeth (Ars amandi)]. He has translated authors such as W.B. Yeats, the Brazilian poet Manoel de Barros and the Turkish poet Bejan Matur. His collaboration with musicians has given rise to two recordings:
Flor d’escarabat (Beetle Flower), with music by Carles Santos, and
Salvatge cor (Savage Heart), with musicians Krishoo Monthieux and Marc Egea. He has explored the theatrical aspect of poetry by means of various performances for the stage, including
Lleons al jardí (Lions in the Garden),
Verges i gossos (Virgins and Dogs),
Salvatge cor (Savage Heart), the opera
Roses gos (Roses Dog) and a dramatised version of
La mort i la primavera (Death in Spring) by Mercè Rodoreda. He directed the art and literature magazine
T(D). He has garnered many awards for his poetry and prose.
The poetry of Albert Roig is an intelligent blend, personal and profoundly free of referents and interests as diverse as the European avant-gardes or the Classic Baroque and Medieval Catalan and other traditions, with an apparent interest in the varied forms of contemporary artistic creation, great formal self-demandingness and singular warmth.
