Posts by Josep Carles Laínez
In hoc signo vinces
One of my cursed books. I will never reveal who is the author of the homonymous work whose title inspired me… a contrario. They are aphorisms written from a pagan and pan-European nationalist conscience, with a very radical tone. In certain political sectors, it received good reviews. It was translated into Estonian, German, French, and…
Read MoreBel diya
Bel diya [Algún día] contains some of my most beloved poems. It was runner-up in the VIII “Ana Abarca de Bolea” Prize. Wherever I open it, I find verses that I like, from the hammering of the opening poem to the conciseness of the last one, “Biblioteca” [“Library”]. The section “Bayía de San Francisco” [“San…
Read MoreAlma
Alma is still one of my favorite books. It is a short novel set in a post-apocalyptic urban landscape that tells a story of obsessive love between the character that gives its name to the work and Atom, an alter ego of mine. I remember writing this text at night, locked in my room after…
Read MoreQuatre fragments escarraunhats a la nuèit
Between the aphorism and the diary entry proper are these four samples of fragmentary writing, “Quatre fragments escarraunhats a la nuèit” [“Four Scratches in the Night”], written in 1994, and for which I used the Languedocian variety of Occitan. With an overly youthful tone in the depressive mood, this title is perhaps my first presentable…
Read MoreComo tú
Although I signed this piece on my own, I co-wrote it with the actor Javier Salinas in 1994 or perhaps earlier, and my participation was less than his. Thanks to his effort, it was premiered at the Sala Triángulo in Madrid in March 1995, under the direction of Mariano Venancio. I do not keep the…
Read MoreA besita de l’ánchel
I have fond memories of writing A besita de l’ánchel [The Angel’s Visit]: a whole summer spent in the family home in Caudiel, pounding the keys of an old typewriter, and recreating myself in F. W. Murnau’s Faust. This novel won a second prize in the “III Premio Internazional de Nobela Curta” of the Consello…
Read MoreDionysiaka
Dionysíaka was my first book in Valencian. It was published by the publishing house Germania by the hand of the excellent poet Marc Granell, one of the first readers of my verses and a very sharp and accurate critic. The title is meant to be ironic because the poems do not speak of Dionysian pleasures,…
Read MorePeruigilium Veneris
Peruigilium Veneris [The Eve of Venus’ Festivities] is a short collection of poems written between 1989 and 1991. They revolve around the figure of Sappho and are touched with an exaggerated culturalism (the central poem was written in Japanese…). Formal unity is present here as an obsession, and I still like some of the findings.…
Read MoreExotica martyria
Exotica martyria was my first published poetry book. It was edited by the researcher, narrator, and poet Ricardo Llopesa in his poetry collection “La Torre de Papel” in 1991. I had met Ricardo thanks to his mythical Spanish and Central American poetry magazine Ojuebuey, which he distributed through the main bookstores in the city of…
Read MoreEn o gudrón espígol xuto
En o gudrón espígol xuto [En el asfalto espliego seco] was published almost at the same time as Exotica martyria, also in 1991 In August 1989, we had formed in Teruel, a group of activists for the Aragonese language, the Colla de Fablans d’o Sur d’Aragón [Group of Speakers from Southern Aragon]. One of our…
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