Enric Casasses, the poet who "wanted to be ancient as a young man," wins the Jaume Fuster Prize.

BarcelonaEnric Casasses (Barcelona, ​​​​1951) has just been proclaimed winner of the 25th Jaume Fuster Prize, voted annually by the members of the Association of Writers in Catalan Language, and which has distinguished in previous editions the work of Jesús Moncada, Joan Margarit, Narcís Comadira, Antonia Vicens and Antonina Canyelles, among others. The literary work of Casasses, poet, translator, columnist and narrator, has expanded into more than thirty books and records – among which those he has made with Pascal Comelade– and in hundreds of recitals.

Jordi Cornudella, who has edited several Casasses books for Edicions 62, has been responsible for praising him at the Ateneu Barcelonès. "It was Sergi Pàmies who recommended, in 1991, that I read a very good book that had just been published by Empúries, That thing"I've never thanked him enough," he began. "From then until the end of the nineties, Enric published a profuse volume of books, which was possible not because he wrote tirelessly but because he had been filling notebooks for twenty years. He was called a young poet, but he was no longer one." youngster, was over 40 years old." Among the titles that Cornudella highlighted from that first stage was the book of sonnets We were not (Empúries, 1993), the torrential Uh (Container Cultural Association, 1997) and the collection of articles The town next door (Empúries, 1993). "Every now and then a poet appears who opens up new possibilities and points to the future. Enric is one of them. Some also look to the past, and they don't just look inward, but also toward tradition. Authors like Carner and Riba have done so, and for decades, Enric has done so as well," Cornud continued.

"Whenever they call me a master, I think: shit!"

"Since adolescence I have always felt, on the one hand, at the forefront of it modern, but also it "ancient," Casasses said. "When I was young, I wanted to be ancient, but I also had long hair and had extravagant attitudes. When I started seeing artists, some of them were performances, other conceptual art and I sonnets. It seemed to me that it was a good way to be at the forefront."

Casasses comes from a family full of teachers, but he never wanted to be one: "Whenever they call me a teacher, I think: shit!" he exclaimed. , he continued.The phosphorescent canaries (Empúries, 2001), a book of prose poems made with styrofoam, Cornudella has highlighted its "formal rigor and audacity." And he added: "If we never had an inventory of all the closed forms that Enric has cultivated, we would fall on our asses, although he has also dealt, and successfully, with open forms, as he did recently in Marramaus". "The phosphorescent canaries "It's one of my few books that can be read in another language," Casasses admitted. "I'm a poor translator."

A tenacious and unprejudiced reader

"One of the threads Casasses has always stretched has been that of literary criticism, as a tenacious reader free of academic prejudices," Cornudella recalled before highlighting the work of the Jaume Fuster Prize winner, reviving authors such as Juli Vallmitjana and Eduard Girbal Jaume and writing "decisive prologues" about Joan. "Although he ended up having many followers, Enric is a poet in favor of headless groups," admitted the editor, shortly after highlighting the latest book cycle, consisting of Bes Nagana (1984, 2011 editions), I know you (1984, 2013 editions), The knot the flower (Ediciones Poncianas, 2018) and the recent The police will be in force (Documentos Documenta, 2025).

Among the previous recognitions that Casasses's work has received is the Carles Riba award for Lime (Proa, 1995), the Golden Letter award for The knot the flower (Ediciones Poncianas, 2018) and the Honorary Award for Catalan Literature throughout his career. Jaume Fuster is a prize without a jury and without a prize fund, voted on by AELC members: Casasses prevailed over the other two finalists, Josep Albanell and Gabriel Janer Manila. "Albanell was the candidate I voted for," Casasses admitted with a mischievous smile. "You could say I lost and won at the same time."