Màrius Sampere (Barcelona, 1928), poet. With his first compilation, L'home i el límit, he was awarded the Carles Riba in 1963, but the book was not published until 1968. In the 1970's and 1980's, he received further awards, such as the Recull-Maria Ribas i Carreras and the Miquel de Palol of Girona. In the 1990s and early in 2000, his literary career was honoured by readers and institutions alike with prizes such as the Crítica Serra d'Or for Subllum (2000), and the Premi de la Crítica, the Ciutat de Barcelona and the Nacional de Cultura for Les imminències (2002), the compilation that has given him the major public recognition.

He says: "Perhaps is too dare to say it, but Poetry doesn't serve any purpose, and this is the greatest thing about it. A meditation, an expansion, a magical act. It is useless, but it is everything. It is the first content of life and it is what gives life's its salt and substance."

He is a member of honor of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana.



Web page: Xulio R. Trigo for the AELC.
Update: Josep Miàs for the AELC.
Photograph: ©Carme Esteve.