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Josep Maria Sala-Valldaura (Gironella, Berguedà, 1947) is a poet, essayist and teacher at the University of Lleida where he is Professor of Spanish Literature.

After his early publications of poetry as part of the 1970s literary movement, his book En aquest dau del foc (In This Block of the Fire), which received the Critics’ Cavall Verd Prize, represents a turning point. His poetry moves between classicism and modernity and, in this sense, he is one of the writers of his generation who has done most for the evolution of poetic language. His most recent published works are Cardiopatia (Cardiopathy – 1999) and Disfresses (Disguises – 2002).

As an essayist and literary critic, he was part of the poetic revival that marked the 1970s and 1980s with books like Les darreres tendències de la poesia catalana (1968 – 1979) (Latest Tendencies in Catalan Poetry (1968 – 1979)), co-authored with Vicenç Altaió and published in 1980 and the compilation of his studies on poetry L’agulla en el fil (The Needle in the Thread – 1987). He has contributed towards making known the work of the poet Joan Vinyoli by collaborating with different publications and also with his own book Joan Vinyoli (1985). His interests in the field of the essay have also included 18th-century literature and post-war poetry.

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