Clara Janés
Barcelona (6 November 1940), is a Spanish writer of several literary genres. She is recognised as a poet and is distinguished as a translator of different central European and eastern languages. Since 2015, she has occupied a seat in the Real Academia Española, becoming the tenth woman elected as a member of the RAE.
Clara Janés
- Birth Name
- Clara Janés Nadal
- Born
- 6 November 1940
- Birthplace
- Barcelona, Spain
- Occupation
- Poet
- Education
- University of Barcelona University of Pamplona University of Paris
- Awards
- Premio Nacional a la obra de un traductor Premio Ciudad de Barcelona de Poesía Premio Internacional de Poesía Ciudad de Melilla Clara Janés Nadal, born in Barcelona (6 November 1940), is a Spanish writer of several literary genres.
- Full name
- Clara Janés Nadal.
- Nationality
- Spain.
- Fields
- essay.
- Honours
- honorary doctor of the University of Toulouse-II and Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
- Languages
- Spanish, Catalan and French.
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Barcelona (6 November 1940), is a Spanish writer of several literary genres. She is recognised as a poet and is distinguished as a translator of different central European and eastern languages. Since 2015, she has occupied a seat in the Real Academia Española, becoming the tenth woman elected as a member of the RAE.
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bnf · gnd · loc · wikidata · Q2975508 · wikipedia · Clara Janés
In this article
Biography
Biography
Clara Janés studied at University of Paris. The recorded working language is Spanish, Catalan and French. The field of work recorded is essay. Residence is recorded at Barcelona. Positions recorded include Member of the Royal Spanish Academy. Distinctions recorded are honorary doctor of the University of Toulouse-II and Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
Key facts
Key facts
• Honorific Prefix — The Most Excellent • Birth Name — Clara Janés Nadal • Born — 6 November 1940 • Birthplace — Barcelona, Spain • Occupation — Poet • Language — Spanish • Education — University of Barcelona University of Pamplona University of Paris • Notable Works — Isla del suicidio Tentativa de encuentro y tentativa de olvido Vivir Rosas de fuego • Awards — Premio Nacional a la obra de un traductor Premio Ciudad de Barcelona de Poesía Premio Internacional de Poesía Ciudad de Melilla Clara Janés Nadal, born in Barcelona (6 November 1940), is a Spanish writer of several literary genres. She is recognised as a poet and is distinguished as a translator of different central European and eastern languages. Since 2015, she has occupied a seat in the Real Academia Española, becoming the tenth woman elected as a member of the RAE.
Biography
Biography
Clara Janés was born in Barcelona on 6 November 1940, the daughter of Ester Nadal and the famous editor and poet Josep Janés (l'Hospitalet de Llobregat, 1913 – Monós, Alto Penedés, 1959). She was brought up in Pedralbes, on the outskirts of Barcelona. Her love for literature, especially poetry, started at an early age after reading several verses of Saint Teresa of Jesus. In 1957, she began her degree in philosophy at the University of Barcelona, where Professor Jose Manuel Blecua taught her the literature of San Juan de la Cruz and Francisco de Quevedo, among other traditional literature poets. This has been the fundamental influence of her interest in traditional poetry. After the death of her father in 1960, she moved to Pamplona, where she finished her university degree. Clara Janés completed her studies at the University of Paris [2], where she studied Maîtrise in comparative literature. At the age of 23, the author Gerardo Diego [3], who was her mother's friend, read one of her poems. The author also enabled her to publish her first book, Las estrellas vencidas, in 1964. That same year, she decided to move to Madrid, where she currently resides. Clara Janés confesses that her world changed when she read Night with Hamlet, by the Czech author Vladimír Holan. The author later agreed to meet her in Prague, where she decided to learn Czech and began to translate it. Since 1983, Clara Janés has participated in national and international literary events. Her poetry has been translated into twenty languages. She directs the Collection Poesía del Oriente y del Mediterráneo, in which she has published works of poets such as Yunus Emre, Sohrab Sepehri, Adonis, Halas, Vladimir Holan, Nezval, Orten, Jaroslav Seifert, Ilhan Berk, Rumi, Odysseas Elytis, António Ramos Rosa, Wang Wei, Nazim Hikmet, Nichita Stănescu, Du Fu, Johannes Bobrowski, Hafez of Shiraz, Halladch Mansur Mahmud Darwish, Sujata Bhatt, Forugh Farrokhzad, Ahmad Shamloo, Abbas Kiarostami, Al-Mutanabbi, Sappho, and Rilke. Since 7 May 2015, she has occupied the U seat in the Royal Spanish Academy, which was left vacant after the death of Eduardo García de Enterria (16 September 2013). In 2019, she was a contributor to A New Divan: A Lyrical Dialogue Between East and West (Gingko Library, 2019). Clara Janés is the tenth woman to be elected as a member of the RAE.
Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
Relating to translation: • (1992) Tutav Foundation Prize, Turkey, for her task in dissemination of Turkish poetry in Spain * • (1997) National Translation Prize for her entire work. * • (2000) Medal of Merit First category of the Czech Republic for her work as a translator and transmitter of the literature of the country * • (2007) X National Prize for Literature "Teresa de Ávila" Her poetry has also won major awards: • (1983) City of Barcelona Prize for Vivir * • (1998) City of Melilla Prize for Arcángel de sombra * • (2002) Poetry Prize Gil de Biedma for Los secretos del bosque
Works
Works
• Isla del suicidio. Poetry. • Las estrellas vencidas, 1964. Poetry. • La noche de Abel Micheli,1965. Novel. • Desintegración, 1969. Novel. • La vida callada de Federico Mompou, 1972. Biography. • Tentativa de encuentro y tentativa de olvido, 1972. • Límite humano, 1973. Poetry. • Aprender a envejecer, 1973. Essay. • Poemas Rumanos, 1973. Poetry. • En busca de Cordelia y Poemas rumanos, 1975. Poetry. • Cartas a Adriana, 1976. Novel. • Antología personal (1959–1979), 1979. Poetry. • Libro de alienaciones, 1980. Poetry. • Sendas de Rumanía, 1981. Novel. • Eros, 1981. Poetry. • Pureza canelo, 1981. Biography. • Tentativa de olvido, 1982. Tales. • Roig, Montserrat. Before the civil war, 1982. Tales. • Pessarrodona, Marta. La búsqueda de Elizabeth, 1982. Tales. • Vivir, 1983. Poetry. • Fósiles, 1985. Poetry. • Kampa: poesía, música y voz, 1986. Poetry. • Las primeras poetisas en lengua castellana, 1986. Poetry. • Federico Mompou: vida, textos y documentos, 1987. Essay. • Lapidario, 1988. Poetry. • Creciente fértil, 1989. Poetry. • Los caballos del sueño, 1989. Novel. • Jardín y laberinto, 1990. Biography. • Esbozos, 1990. Poetry. • El hombre de Adén, 1991. Novel. • Emblemas, 1991. Poetry. • Espejismos, 1991. Novel. • Las palabras de la tribu: escritura y habla, 1993. Essay. • Rosas de fuego, 1996. Poetry. • Cirlot, el no mundo y la poesía imaginal, 1996. Essay. • Diván del ópalo de fuego, 1996. Poetry. • Espejos de agua, 1997. Tales. • El persa. Cuento. Tales. • "El libro de los pájaros" 1999.Poetry • Arcángel de sombra, 2000. Poetry • Los secretos del bosque, Visor, Madrid, 2002 (Premio J. Gil de Biedma, 2002). • "Paralajes", Barcelona, Tusquets, 2002. Poetry. • "Vilanos", Madrid, AdamaRamada, 2004. Poetry. • "Fractales", Valencia, Pre-Textos, 2005. Poetry. • "Huellas sobre una corteza", Valladolid, Fundación Jorge Guillén, 2005. Poetry. • "Los números oscuros" Siruela, 2006. Poetry. • "La indetenible quietud", Siruela, 2008. Poetry. • "Variables ocultas", 2010. Poetry. • "De la realidad y la poesía: Tres conversaciones y un poema", 2010. Ensayo y poesía. • "Orbes del sueño" Vaso Roto, 2013. Poetry. • "Según la costumbre de las olas" 2013. Poetry. • "Movimientos insomnes". 2014. • "Poética y Poesía". 2014.
Life and work
Life and work
Clara Janés was born on 6 November 1940 in Barcelona. Janés held the nationality of Spain. Janés was educated at University of Paris. Janés worked as linguist, writer, translator and essayist, and the authority record catalogues a further 2 occupations under the same name, among them biographer and poet. Janés was active from 1964. Janés held the posts of Member of the Royal Spanish Academy (2016). Janés worked in Spanish, Catalan, French and Czech.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 1940–2022
The full dated record · 5 entries
1940
Born at Barcelona.
2005
Receives Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts.
2015
Recorded as member of: Royal Spanish Academy.
2016
Recorded as position held: Member of the Royal Spanish Academy.
2022
Receives honorary doctor of the University of Toulouse-II.
Works documented in more than one form
Catalogued output
Works documented in more than one form
24 titles are catalogued under more than one form, which is to say the registers hold them both as a work and as a distinct object, score, recording or edition. Where a title is documented in several forms the evidence behind it is correspondingly wider, and the article treats those forms as separate records of the same work rather than as separate works. Antología poética, 1964-2022, dated 2022 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Ψ o El jardín de las delicias, dated 2014 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Fractales, dated 2005 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Emblemas, dated 1991 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Vivir, dated 2006 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Paralajes, dated 2002 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. A Vladimir Holan en su centenario: estudio y conversaciones, dated 2005 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Eros, dated 1981 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. En torno a la mujer y la literatura, dated 2014 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. En torno a Salomón y el Cantar de los Cantares, dated 2017 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Vilanos (e-mails), dated 2004 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Poesía, dated 1980 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Antología personal (1959-1979), dated 1979 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Logos bifronte, dated 2020 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Diván del ópalo de fuego (o la leyenda de Layla y Machnún), dated 1996 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Cervantes, Rilke, Antonio López, dated 2014 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. El nudo de los vientos (o la mitad perdida de Pitágoras), dated 2017 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Y Poemas rumanos, dated 1975 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Espejismos, dated 1991 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Vida, textos y documentos, dated 1987 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. En torno a Eduardo Chillida, dated 2008 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Lapidario, dated 2018 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Desde la sombra llameante, dated 2010 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation. Antología poética (1964-2014), dated 2015 — catalogued as written work and version, edition or translation.
El espejo de la noche
Guardar la casa y cerrar la boca
Una estrella de puntas infinitas
Camino de Sardes
El Greco, tres miradas
En busca de Cordelia
La indetenible quietud
Works, 1975–2022
Catalogued output
Works, 1975–2022
These are texts written by the subject, distinct both from writings about the subject and from printed editions of other people's work. 25 works carry dates between 1975 and 2022. The 2010s are the densest part of the run, with 8 titles, and that concentration is a fact about what the registers have catalogued rather than a judgement on the work itself. They belong to a run of 57 titles in all, from 1975 to 2022. A selection is set out below and the complete run may be opened beneath it.
The run opens with En busca de Cordelia
Y Poemas rumanos and closes with Resonancias
Antología poética, 1964-2022
Y Poemas rumanos
1975
Antología personal (1959-1979)
1979
Poesía
1980
Eros
1981
Vida, textos y documentos
1987
Emblemas
1991
Espejismos
1991
Diván del ópalo de fuego (o la leyenda de Layla y Machnún)
1996
Paralajes
2002
The complete catalogue · 27
The run opens with En busca de Cordelia
Y Poemas rumanos and closes with Resonancias
Antología poética, 1964-2022
Y Poemas rumanos
1975
Antología personal (1959-1979)
1979
Poesía
1980
Eros
1981
Vida, textos y documentos
1987
Emblemas
1991
Espejismos
1991
Diván del ópalo de fuego (o la leyenda de Layla y Machnún)
1996
Paralajes
2002
Vilanos (e-mails)
2004
Fractales
2005
Huellas sobre una corteza
Sings on some bark
2005
A Vladimir Holan en su centenario: estudio y conversaciones
2005
Vivir
2006
En torno a Eduardo Chillida
2008
Desde la sombra llameante, dated 2010. Ψ o El jardín de las delicias
2014
En torno a la mujer y la literatura
2014
Cervantes, Rilke, Antonio López
2014
Antología poética (1964-2014)
2015
En torno a Salomón y el Cantar de los Cantares
2017
El nudo de los vientos (o la mitad perdida de Pitágoras)
2017
Lapidario
2018
Logos bifronte
2020
Works without a settled date
Catalogued output
Works without a settled date
32 further works are catalogued under Janés's name without a date the collections agree on, which is why they are set apart from the dated run rather than placed in it.
Poesía erótica y amorosa
Rosas de fuego
Sendas de Rumania
Ver el fuego
Viaje a los dos Orientes
Arcángel de sombra
Aprender a envejecer
Cartas a Adriana
El hombre de Adén
El libro de los pájaros
Jardín y laberinto
La gruta de las palabras
The complete catalogue · 24
Poesía erótica y amorosa
Rosas de fuego
Sendas de Rumania
Ver el fuego
Viaje a los dos Orientes
Arcángel de sombra
Aprender a envejecer
Cartas a Adriana
El hombre de Adén
El libro de los pájaros
Jardín y laberinto
La gruta de las palabras
La vida callada de Federico Mompou
Libro de alienaciones
Los caballos del sueño
Los números oscuros
Los secretos del bosque
Los árboles en las tres culturas
Cirlot, el no mundo y la poesía imaginal
Espejos de agua
Kamasutra para dormir a un espectro
Kráter o la búsqueda del amado en el más allá
Las estrellas vencidas
Orbes del sueño
Primary material
Documents and archives
institutional register
- Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 12027126h
Unverified · Bibliothèque nationale de France
- FAST authority file 12473
Unverified · FAST
- GND (German National Library) authority file 130447676
Unverified · GND (German National Library)
- IdRef (French universities) authority file 028435362
Unverified · IdRef (French universities)
- ISNI authority file 0000000108665822
Unverified · ISNI
- Library of Congress authority file n50036702
Unverified · Library of Congress
reference work
- “Clara Janés”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Where the work is held
Honours and awards
They run from 2005 to 2022.
2 honours stand against the name
Gold Medal of Merit in the Fine Arts, dated 2005. Honorary doctor of the University of Toulouse-II
2022
Literature
Literature
Clara Janés contributes to the literary fields of poetry, novel, biography and essay. Additionally, she is distinguished as a translator, particularly of the Czech language and the poetry of Vladimir Holan and Jaroslav Seifert. She has also translated into Spanish the works of Marguerite Duras, Nathalie Sarraute, Katherine Mansfield, and William Golding, and in collaboration with native people of Turkish and Persian descent, she has translated both modern and ancient myths. The Hispanic Biruté Ciplijauskaité describes the author as a significant example of the evolution of women in Spanish literature. The book Kampa (1989) places Clara Janés among the great poets that have addressed the issue of the literature autonomasia, love (Rosa Chacel, 1989). It is complicated to categorise Clara Janés within a particular literary movement of the late twentieth century. Several critics claim that part of her work could be encompassed into the literary movement of the "novisimos", although she does not form part of it. (Sharon Kafee Ugalde, 2012). The poet uses her own style and language in her work. Clara Janés is considered a mediator between the Eastern and Western world (Debra Fazer-McMahon, 2010). "The intention of the poet to break down barriers between the Eastern and Western cultures is reflected in the historical context of the Islamic presence in Spain and the present arrival of Muslim immigrants in Spain and other countries of the European Union" (Kafee Sharon Ugalde, 2012). Part of her work has been translated into more than twenty different languages and is presented in the following volumes: Las estrellas vencidas (1964), Límite humano (1974), En busca de Cordelia and Poemas rumanos (1975), Antología personal (1979), Libro de alienaciones (1980), Eros (1981), Kampa (1986), Fósiles (1987), Rosas de fuego and Divan of the Opal of Fire (1996), La indetenible quietud (1998), El libro de los pájaros (1999) and Paralajes (2002).
Phases in her literature
Phases in her literature
The first stage of her literary career begins with the book Las estrellas vencidas. Followed by Límite humano (1974), En busca de Cordelia and poemas romanos (1975), Antología personal 1959–1979 (1979) and Libro de alienaciones (1980) In this period, Clara Janés represents herself as a traditional feminine figure in search for the origin of femininity. Moreover, she also incorporates existential elements such as anxiety, dissatisfaction, depression, loneliness, as well as relationships and their difficulties. In search of answers to her questions about life, the poet defines a transition between the first and second stage of her career, with her collection of poems, Vivir (1983). The poems found in this collection address the serenity of spirit. With the book Eros (1981) begins her second literature stage. This period is characterised by feminism, sensuality, eroticism and love. The entire theme of love achieves its peak in one of her following poetry books, Creciente fértil (1989).
Authority records
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
institutional register
Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 12027126hBibliothèque nationale de France
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
GND (German National Library) authority file 130447676GND (German National Library)
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
IdRef (French universities) authority file 028435362IdRef (French universities)
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Library of Congress authority file n50036702Library of Congress
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
National Library of Australia authority file 35242434National Library of Australia
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Partially resolved
Every cited source · 10
- 01
Bibliothèque nationale de France authority file 12027126h
institutional register · Unverified · Bibliothèque nationale de France
Consult the source - 02
- 03
GND (German National Library) authority file 130447676
institutional register · Unverified · GND (German National Library)
Consult the source - 04
IdRef (French universities) authority file 028435362
institutional register · Unverified · IdRef (French universities)
Consult the source - 05
- 06
Library of Congress authority file n50036702
institutional register · Unverified · Library of Congress
Consult the source - 07
National Library of Australia authority file 35242434
institutional register · Unverified · National Library of Australia
Consult the source - 08
- 09
Wikidata, structured authority record Q2975508: Clara Janés
institutional register · Unverified · Wikimedia Foundation
Consult the source - 10
“Clara Janés”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
reference work · Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Consult the source
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 15 August 2026.
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