Josep Maria Castellet


Josep Maria Castellet Díaz de Cossío, also known as José María Castellet, was a Spanish Catalan writer, poet, literacy critic, publisher and editor.
Born in Barcelona, he began his career in writing in 1955, and wrote novels and poetry in both Catalan and Spanish. His final novel was published in 2012.
He played an outstanding role in the Spanish and Catalan culture life of the second half of the 20th century. He was the chief editor of the publishing house Edicions 62 and afterwards president of the Grup 62. He was the founder and first president of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana, a board member of the Comunità europea degli scrittori, the Prix international de Littérature jury and the dean of the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes.
Josep Maria Castellet died on 9 January 2014, aged 87, in his hometown of Barcelona.

Biography

Castellet received his education as a literary critic by working for university magazines. His biographers stress his active participation in the editorial board of the magazine Laye, where he held a critical position towards contemporary Spanish literature, and the first publication of an article collection Notas sobre literatura española contemporánea. His willingness for renewal and the discovery of the European literary critique through the Laye group led him to write La hora del lector. As he wanted to make known a group of young poets that had started publishing in Laye, he published the polemic anthology Veinte años de poesía española that postulated historic realism. Ten years later a new anthology, Nueve novísimos poetas españoles, marked a change to new poetic tendencies after realism. In 1963 Castellet published, together with Joaquim Molas, Poesia catalana del segle XX guided by historic realism, a concept that he developed theoretically in Poesia, realisme, història.
His work as a critic during that time centered on two important books that are still considered works of reference: the structuralist reading of the poetry by Espriu —Iniciació a la poesia de Salvador Espriu — and the analysis of the narrative richness of Josep Pla's work, Josep Pla o la raó narrativa.
In Per un debat sobre la cultura a Catalunya he reflected on the role of culture in the recently democratic state and the frame of the autonomous region of Catalonia. His last works consisted of memories; the first one, not published until 2007 was Dietari de 1973. He started this presentation of himself and his times in Els escenaris de la memòria, went on with Seductors, il·lustrats i visionaris and Memòries confidencials d'un editor. Tres escriptors amics..

Work