MANUEL FORCANO (Barcelona, 1968)
Manuel Forcano has a PhD in Semitic Languages from the University of Barcelona. Having pursued Hebrew Studies in Israel, Arabic and Islamic Studies in Syria and Egypt, he lectured in Hebrew and Aramaic at the University of Barcelona. He has translated from Hebrew to Catalan the work of various modern Israeli poets such as Pinkhas Sadé, Roni Someck and Yehuda Amichai, as well as the novel El mateix mar (2002) (The Same Sea) by Amos Oz. He has also translated Els viatges d’Ibn Battuta (2005) (Ibn Battuta’s Voyages) from Arabic to Catalan, in conjunction with Margarida Castells. He published the book of historical and literary essays A fil d’espasa: Les croades vistes pels jueus (2007) (The Sword’s Edge: The Crusades Through Jewish Eyes). His own works of poetry include seven published books, noteworthy among which are Com un persa (2001) (Like A Persian), winner of the 2002 Tivoli European Prize for best European poet under 36 years of age, El tren de Bagdad (2004) (Baghdad Train) and Llei d’estrangeria (2008) (Immigration Law). Since 2004, he has worked as a documentary maker with the musician Jordi Savall at the International Foundation Centre for Ancient Music.
Indebted to poets like Kavafis and Yehuda Amichai, the latter of whom he has translated, he frequently presents historical or cultural motifs from Antiquity, which contrast with the vulgarity of the present. A further contrast is between the pervasive erudition of his poems and his simplicity of tone and forms. Love and nostalgia for a glorious past are the two great themes in Forcano’s poetry. He has received many prizes for his poetic work.
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SELECTED WORKS
· D’un record a l’altre
(La Magrana, 1993) [‘From One Memory to Another’].
· Les mans descalces
(Columna, 1993) [‘Barefoot Hands’].
· De nit
(Moll, 1999) [‘By Night’].
· Corint
(Proa, 2000) [‘Corinth’].
· Com un persa
(Tàndem, 2001) [‘Like A Persian’].
· El tren de Bagdad
(Proa, 2004) [‘Baghdad Train’].
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LATEST WORKS IN TRANSLATION
BASQUE
· Galeusca [Anthology], tr. J. A. Arrieta Ugartetxea. Navarra: AELG, EIE, AELC, 2004.
DUTCH
· Catalaanse zegswijze [Anthology], tr. Ann Duez & Bob de Nijs. Brugge: Kruispunt, 1990.
· De tweede ronde [Anthology], tr. Helena Overkleeft & Peter Verstegen. Amsterdam: Mouria, 2008.
ENGLISH
· Light off water [Anthology], tr. Christopher Whyte. Edinburgh: Scottish Poetry Library, 2007.
GALICIAN
· Galeusca [Anthology], tr. Lluïsa Soaz. Navarra:AELG, EIE, AELC, 2004.
GERMAN
· Der Zug nach Bagdad [‘El tren de Bagdad’], tr. S. Limbeck. Berlin: Elfenbein Verlag, 2007.
SPANISH
· Sol de sal la nueva poesía catalana (antología 1976-2001), tr. Jordi Virallonga. Barcelona: DVD Ediciones, 2001.
· He decidido seguir viviendo... [Anthology], tr. José Bru & Jorge Souza. Mexico: Universidad de Guadalajara, 2004.
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