CCWW_Spanish_MerceMarcal

Maria-Mercè Marçal was born on 13th November 1952 in Barcelona, although she always claimed her origins in Ivars d’Urgells where she spent her childhood. In 1969 she went to University of Barcelona to start her degree in Classical Philology. During her years at university, she started writing poetry as part of the group of young poets ‘El Mall’ with Xavier Bru de Sala and Ramon Pinyol, with whom she will get married in 1972. This same year, Marçal started her

job as a teacher of Catalan language and Literature, task that she never abandoned. One year later in 1973, she participated as a founder of the publishing house ‘El Mall’ along with Xavier and Ramon.
Her literary career started with Cau de llunes (Den of Moons), which won the prestigious Carles Riba Prize of poetry in 1976. The same year that she started her political career with PSAN, being a member of the executive until 1979.
One year later she divorced her husband Ramon Pinyol and her second book Bruixa de dol (The Mourning Witch) published in 1979 narrates her ‘itinerary of a single woman’ and friendship with other women. The same year she created the section on Feminism at the Summer University of Prada de Conflent that she will be coordinating until 1985.
In 1982, she published the book Sal oberta (Open Salt), which poetically elaborates for the first time in Catalan Poetry the experience of her pregnancy. The same year another important book for the Catalan tradition was published Terra de Mai (The Neverland). These fifteen sestinas poetically narrate the experience of a same-sex love relationship for the first time in the Catalan literature. This book was later reprinted within the following book La germana, l’estrangera published in 1985. These poems will be dedicated to the first relationship with her daughter Heura, who was born in 1980. Her last book of poems Desglaç (Thawning) was included in her completed works Llengua Abolida (Abolished Language) in 1989. In 1992 she proposed the creation of Catalan Women Writers as part of the Catalan Centre for PEN.
She died in Barcelona on 5th July 1998 of cancer. She was 45 years old.
In 2000 a posthumous book of poems entitled Raó del cos (Reason of the body) edited by Lluïsa Julià with prologue of Pere Gimferrer.
Marçal was a poet, essayist, translator and critic.

This biography was put together by Noèlia Diaz-Vicedo (n.diaz-vicedo@qmul.ac.uk) December 2009

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