Blai Bonet

Blai Bonet (1926 in Santanyí – 1997 in Mallorca) was a Mallorcan poet, novelist and art critic.

Blai Bonet
Born	Blai Bonet i Rigo 1926 Santayí
Died	1997 Mallorca
Occupation(s)	Writer and poet
Notable work	El Mar

Bonet was an author with a trajectory marked by personal religious conflict and tuberculosis. His novel El Mar (The Sea), published in 1958, generated quite a stir. Afterwards, in 1962 his collections of poems L'Evangeli segons un de tants (The Gospel According to One of Many) was awarded the Carles Riba Poetry Prize, but it was not published due to Spanish Francoist censorship, delaying it for more than five years. In 1990, he was awarded the Creu de Sant Jordi by the Catalan Government.

He was a member of the Association of Catalan Language Writers. He was a key participant in the resurgence of Catalan literature in the 1960s. His experimental novel The Sea can be read in English thanks to Dalkey Archive Press.

Works

Poetry

• Quatre poemes de Setmana Santa (1950)
• Entre el coral i l'espiga (1952)
• Cant espiritual (1953, Óssa Menor Prize)
• Comèdia (1968, Premi de la Crítica 1969)
• L'Evangeli segons un de tants (1967, Carles Riba Poetry Prize 1965)
• Els fets (1974)
• Has vist, algun cop, Jordi Bonet a ca n'Amat a l'ombra? (1976)
• Cant de l'arc (1979)
• El poder i la verdor (1981)
• Teatre del gran verd (1983)
• El jove (1987, Premi Lletra d'Or, Premi Nacional de la Crítica i de Poesia by Generalitat de Catalunya)
• Nova York (1991, Premi Ciutat de Barcelona 1992)
• Sonets (2000)

Novel

• El mar (1958, Premi Joanot Martorell 1956) published in English by Dalkey Archive Press
• Haceldama (1959)
• Judes i la primavera (1963, Premi Ciutat de Barcelona)
• Míster Evasió (1969)
• Si jo fos fuster i tu et diguessis Maria (1972)

References

• "Blai Bonet". lletrA-UOC – Open University of Catalonia.