Miquel Bota Totxo (Pollença, 1920-2005), a poet, journalist, columnist, and playwright who was born and educated in Pollença, was a writer and researcher in local history and traditions, as manifested in his extensive body of work and the many lectures, declarations, and talks he gave. 

In 1955 he moved to Madrid where he worked as a correspondent for the news agency EFE, while also writing for periodical publications and magazines, including Baleares. In 1965 he returned to settle in Pollença where he was named Official Town Chronicler. From 1969 to 1974 he also occupied several positions related with cultural life in the town, among them being president of the Pollença Club and working at Caixa d'Estalvis and Mont de Pietat de les Balears "Sa Nostra".

Notable among his published works are the poetry collections Cursa de braus (1966), A ritme d’hores madures (1966, winner of the 1965 City of Barcelona Prize), and Amb la pau dins l’ànima (1994). As this latter title (With Peace in the Soul) suggests, pacifism is a constant theme in Bota’s work. In the area of theatre, his plays deal with regional matters, as in the staged poem Vós regnau damunt l'altura (1949) and the musical comedy Somnis de pescador, which was premiered at the Club Pollença in 1958, and performed again in 1974, and then again in 2022 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of his birth.

He was a member of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC – Association of Catalan Language Writers).

Web page: Llucia Serra for AELC.
Cover photograph: AELC files.
Biography photographs: Pollença Muncipal Archive (Fons Miquel Bota Totxo).
Translation: Julie Wark.