Strangely Happy

Joan Margarit is one of Spain's major modern writers. Born in 1938, he worked as an architect and first published his work in Spanish, but for the past three decades he has become known for his mastery of the Catalan language and is now arguably Spain's most widely acclaimed contemporary poet. In writing stripped of all inessentials, and in the company of the dead, Joan Margarit confronts old age and his mortality in poems that move us with their harsh, poignant music. His poetry confronts the worst that life can offer us, yet what lingers in the mind is its warmth and humanity.

Joan Margarit is one of Spain's major modern writers. Born in 1938, he worked as an architect and first published his work in Spanish, but for the past three decades has become known for his mastery of the Catalan language, and is now, arguably, Spain's most widely acclaimed contemporary poet. The melancholy and candour of his poetry show his affinity with Thomas Hardy, whose work he has translated.