He was quite famous in his day. He started as a journalist, but later moved more into the cultural realm. He wrote a series of novels in the 1930s in which he sent up bourgeois Catalan culture, employing styles from modernism, surrealism, and Dadaism. He also helped to found a press, La Mirada, that published many of his novels, and he acted as an organizer and catalyst for his local arts scene.
Trabal won the Premio Joan Crexells in 1936 for his novel Waltz, which was his most famous work. Soon after, the Spanish Civil War forced Trabal into exile, first in France, and then in Chile, where he died in 1957.
To my knowledge, Waltz is the only one of his books that has been translated into English (Dalkey Archive, 2013). Hopefully more will follow.
His publications (from Wikipedia): L'any que ve (1925), colección de chistes L'home que es va perdre (1929), novela Judita (1930), novela Quo vadis, Sánchez (1931), novela Era una dona com les altres (1932), novela Hi ha homes que ploren perquè es sol es pon (1933), novela Vals (1935), novela, Premio Joan Crexells 1936 Temperatura (1947), novela, publicada en México
He was quite famous in his day. He started as a journalist, but later moved more into the cultural realm. He wrote a series of novels in the 1930s in which he sent up bourgeois Catalan culture, employing styles from modernism, surrealism, and Dadaism. He also helped to found a press, La Mirada, that published many of his novels, and he acted as an organizer and catalyst for his local arts scene.
Trabal won the Premio Joan Crexells in 1936 for his novel Waltz, which was his most famous work. Soon after, the Spanish Civil War forced Trabal into exile, first in France, and then in Chile, where he died in 1957.
To my knowledge, Waltz is the only one of his books that has been translated into English (Dalkey Archive, 2013). Hopefully more will follow.
His publications (from Wikipedia):
L'any que ve (1925), colección de chistes
L'home que es va perdre (1929), novela
Judita (1930), novela
Quo vadis, Sánchez (1931), novela
Era una dona com les altres (1932), novela
Hi ha homes que ploren perquè es sol es pon (1933), novela
Vals (1935), novela, Premio Joan Crexells 1936
Temperatura (1947), novela, publicada en México
His Wikipedia entry: http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesc...
Another good source of biographical information: http://www.lletra.net/en/author/franc...
Also: http://www.escriptors.cat/autors/trab...
Published reviews on the new translation of Waltz:
WSJ: http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/S...
Mine at 3:AM Magazine: http://www.3ammagazine.com/3am/love-a...
GR reviews:
MJ's review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...