Rafael Guillén
Rafael Guillén (27 April 1933 – 4 May 2023) was a Spanish poet, a prominent member of the Generation of '50. Awarded Spain's National Poetry Award for Los estados transparentes in 1994, he was one of the most important authors of his generation. He had a long artistic career and among his merits is the fact of helping the recovery of Andalusian poetic culture after the devastation of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).
Also recorded as Rafael Guillen
Rafael Guillén

Hildeschutz · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Name
- Rafael Guillén
- Born
- 27 April 1933
- Died
- 4 May 2023
- Occupation
- Poet
- Nationality
- Spain.
- Movements
- Generation of '50.
- Honours
- Premio Boscán and Premio Nacional de Poesía.
- Languages
- Spanish.
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Documentary summary
Rafael Guillén (27 April 1933 – 4 May 2023) was a Spanish poet, a prominent member of the Generation of '50. Awarded Spain's National Poetry Award for Los estados transparentes in 1994, he was one of the most important authors of his generation. He had a long artistic career and among his merits is the fact of helping the recovery of Andalusian poetic culture after the devastation of the Spanish Civil War (1936–1939).
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Note VALÉORINE
Rafael Guillén (1933–2023) was a poet and writer, of Spanish nationality. The poet was born Rafael Guillén García in Granada and died in Granada. Rafael Guillén was associated with Generation of '50.
Languages used include Spanish. Honours include Premio Boscán and Premio Nacional de Poesía.
Composed from admitted, traceable facts · 29 September 2026
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wikidata · Q3928948 · wikipedia · Rafael Guillén
In this article
Biography
Biography
The neoclassical influence that weighed on other members of his generation is noticeable in his early works. However, the attraction to popular themes and airs (Cancionero-guía para andar por el aire de Granada, 1962) soon took on an evolution that manifested itself, already in the 1960s, abandoning the rigidity of traditional metrics. His themes were not light: love and eroticism are often mixed with elegy for the inevitable degradation of the passage of time, expressed in verses permeated with a cadenced musical phrasing. His prose work is divided between travel narratives, autobiography, essays, lectures and articles. Guillén died from a stroke on 4 May 2023, at the age of 90.

El poeta Rafael Guillén entre portada y lomo de sus Obras Completas. Editorial Almed, 2010.
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Rafael Guillén Xavier Astor (4.9.2012). Actuación en el jardín de la Casa de los Tiros, Granada, España. Foto de Jorge Guillén Marcos.
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Key facts
Key facts
• Name — Rafael Guillén • Born — 27 April 1933 • Died — 4 May 2023 • Occupation — Poet
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
1933
Rafael Guillén born at Granada.
2023
Rafael Guillén died at Granada.
Discography
• Los alrededores del tiempo (Granada, 2001). Anthology of poems written up to the year 2000. • Balada en tres tiempos para contrabajo y frases cotidianas (Barcelona, 2021). Nine pieces for poems and double bass by Rafael Guillén & Xavier Astor. Based on the book of the same name by both authors published in 2013. Fundación Omnia, DLB 9248-2021.
Primary material
Documents and archives
Institutional database
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q3928948: Rafael Guillén
Scholarly · Wikimedia Foundation
reference work
- “Rafael Guillén”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Selected bibliography
• Antes de la esperanza (1956) • Río de Dios (Granada, 1957) • Cancionero-guía para andar por el aire de Granada (Granada, 1962, 1970 and 1993) • Moheda (Málaga, 1979) • Poesía completa (1988) • Los estados transparentes (1993 and 1998) • La configuración de lo perdido (1995) • I'm Speaking, selected poems. Northwestern University Press (Evanston, USA, 2001). English translation by Sandy McKinney. • Estado de palabra (2003) • Signos en el polvo (2005) • Obras completas (Granada, 2010) • Balada en tres tiempos (para contrabajo y frases cotidianas). Printed music by Xavier Astor. Diputación de Granada (Granada, 2013). • El otro lado de la niebla, Editorial Salto de Página (Madrid, 2013). • El centro del silencio. Selección de poemas (1956–2013). Entorno Gráfico Ediciones (Granada, 2014). • Balada en tres tiempos (para saxofón y frases coloquiales), Visor Libros (Madrid, 2014). • The Alhambra. A Suite of Silences and of the Senses. Photographs by Ángel Sánchez. English translation by Lawrence Bohme. Ediciones Miguel Sánchez (Granada, 2016). • Últimos poemas (Lo que nunca sabré decirte), Fundación José Manuel Lara (Sevilla, 2019).
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Spanish Premio Nacional de Literatura
- 2.Pilar Gómez Bedate, Historia de la Literatura Española, (Volume II). Cátedra (Madrid, 1990)
- 3.Spain is Culture.com.
- 4.Fallece el poeta granadino Rafael Guillén
- 5.La Fundación Omnia publica ‹Balada en tres tiempos›, el segundo disco de Rafael Guillén Granada Hoy, 19 January 2022 (Omnia Foundation publishes ‹Balada en tres tiempos›, the second CD bei Rafael Guillén)
Bibliography printed in the source article · 17
- Antes de la esperanza (1956)
- Río de Dios (Granada, 1957)
- Cancionero-guía para andar por el aire de Granada (Granada, 1962, 1970 and 1993)
- Moheda (Málaga, 1979)
- Poesía completa (1988)
- Los estados transparentes (1993 and 1998)
- La configuración de lo perdido (1995)
- I'm Speaking, selected poems. Northwestern University Press (Evanston, USA, 2001). English translation by Sandy McKinney.
- Estado de palabra (2003)
- Signos en el polvo (2005)
- Obras completas (Granada, 2010)
- Balada en tres tiempos (para contrabajo y frases cotidianas). Printed music by Xavier Astor. Diputación de Granada (Granada, 2013).
- El otro lado de la niebla, Editorial Salto de Página (Madrid, 2013).
- El centro del silencio. Selección de poemas (1956–2013). Entorno Gráfico Ediciones (Granada, 2014).
- Balada en tres tiempos (para saxofón y frases coloquiales), Visor Libros (Madrid, 2014).
- The Alhambra. A Suite of Silences and of the Senses. Photographs by Ángel Sánchez. English translation by Lawrence Bohme. Ediciones Miguel Sánchez (Granada, 2016).
- Últimos poemas (Lo que nunca sabré decirte), Fundación José Manuel Lara (Sevilla, 2019).
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
Institutional database
Wikidata, structured authority record Q3928948: Rafael GuillénWikimedia Foundation
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witness
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 17 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
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