One Day of Life is Life

This bilingual collection of both Maragall’s poetry and prose has been edited and translated by Ronald
Puppo, a research fellow and translator at the University of Vic. His keen eye and expertise on Maragall
comes across in droves as he takes what are arguably Catalan literatures finest moments and turns them
into eminently readable and enjoyable English language poems. Also included in this collection are some of
Maragall’s pieces of prose work and personal letters that shed light onto the man himself. Accompanying all
this are Puppo’s own indepth comments and insights.
Joan Maragall (Barcelona, 1860-1911), the outstanding fin-de-siècle Catalan-language poet and publicist,
holds an eminent place in Spain’s pantheon of diverse literatures. His groundbreaking poetry, disarmingly
uncomplex, encapsulates both the turbulence of his time and place (the anarchist bomb attack in the Barcelona Liceu Opera House, the spiritual cost of the Spanish-American War) and the serenity of his gaze into
world and soul. Maragall’s wholehearted engagement in the debates of his troubled times cuts an emerging
figure, not unlike Émile Zola, of prototype for the twentieth-century intellectuel engagé, and his steadfast
friendship with Miguel de Unamuno brings to light their divergent views on how Spain might be put on
democratic track.
Ronald Puppo, research fellow at the Universitat de Vic–Universitat Central de Catalunya, has taught translation and English studies since 1994 and published articles and reviews appearing in Babel, Catalan Review,
Translation Review and other journals, and book chapters for Reichenberger and Routledge. Translator of
several Catalan poets, notably Jacint Verdaguer (1845-1902) and Joan Maragall (1860-1911), his full-length,
annotated translation of Verdaguer’s foundational epic, Mount Canigó: A tale of Catalonia, was awarded the
2016 “Serra d’Or” Critics Prize for Research in Catalan Studies.