June 12th, 2010
I liked this poem by Paul Blackburn (1926-71) set in Barcelona in the 1960s. The complete poem is here with the correct spacing between the words. It is published in the excellent literary magazine Barcelona Ink.
When Blackburn was asked in 1962 how he would like to die he answered “in Barcelona during a revolution against F. Franco”.
The Touch
The windows
are never wide enuf.
Calle de Vidrio, Barcelona, is
off Fernando, toward the Plaza Real;
short, tight, narrow, &
leads toward the palmtrees
Th e corner bar to the left is
three to fi ve pesetas cheaper than
the one to the right
as you enter, plenty of
sky, trees, a fountain, the
arcades sit over each side we
sit with gambas, cervezas, dis-
MARISCAS
cuss my sis-
PERCEBES
ter’s imminent
ALMEJAS VIVAS
arrival I face
CENTOLLOS
the walls, cannot see Y
the palmtrees behind me GAMBAS
ALAJILLO
BEBA COCA COLA SEPIA
PULPITO
BAR FARON
it says
The complete poem is here
Literature about Barcelona | Tags: Barcelona Ink, Paul Blackburn Barcelona|
May 26th, 2010
The Afro-American poet Langston Hughes visited Barcelona in 1937 as a newspaper correspondent for the Baltimore Afro-American. He saw the terrible destruction in the city caused by the bombing.
I came down from Paris by train. We reached Barcelona at night. The day before had been a terrific air raid in the city, killing about a hundred and wounding a great deal more. We read about it in the papers at the border. Last night, I thought. Well tonight, I’ll be there. Here (October 23, 1937)
He was inspired to write the poem Air raid: Barcelona (from here). The imagery is stark. East is back to Mallorca where Mussolini’s squadrons were based.
The death birds wheel East
To their lairs again
Leaving iron eggs
In the streets of Spain.
Air raid: Barcelona by Langston Hughes
Black smoke of sound
Curls against the midnight sky. Read the rest of this entry
History of Barcelona, Literature about Barcelona, Spanish Civil War in Barcelona | Tags: Air Raid Barcelona by Langston Hughes, Baltimore Afro-American, Black history in Spain, bombardment of Barcelona. aerial bombing during the Spanish Civil War, Langston Hughes in Spain, Poems about Barcelona, Poems about the Spanish Civil War|
March 8th, 2010
The Oh Barcelona site has a short but good round-up of the books in English set in Barcelona. Montalbán, Mendoza, Ruiz Zafon, Tóibín, Hughes, etc.
More here
Art, Barcelona writers, Literature about Barcelona | Tags: Literature set in Barcelona|
