Biography
1948-1965
Coses vistes - "Seen Things"
After a few years of financial difficulties and voluntary isolation in Empordà, Pla completely accepted the fact of being a rural property owner. He would not live in Barcelona any more. However, the magazine “Destino” would still commission some articles for him to write which allowed him to travel again on a literary pretext: France, Israel, Cuba, New York, Middle East, South America, Russia. He no longer made journeys as a correspondent but as a journalistic observer who never lost his curiosity for the political and social development of the contemporary world. Furthermore, Pla made good use of his voyages, often made in slow tankers; writing obsessively, elaborating his books and rewriting patiently what would later become his Obra Completa (Complete Works).
Josep Vergés with Josep Pla. London, 1955. © Rosa M. Coma.
Fundació Josep Pla, col. Josep Vergés.
Doctor Josep Trueta with Josep Pla. Oxford, 1955. © Josep Vergés.
Fundació Josep Pla, col. Josep Vergés.
After a few editions of bibliophile, he started editing his books regularly in Catalan in Editorial Selecta(publishers), which belonged to Josep M. Cruzet. Cruzet would also publish the first project of Pla’s Complete Works, consisting of 29 volumes (novels, travel books, narratives, memories etc.) Slowly, he started to inject morality and a collective dimension into his individual process of recalling memories. The landscape, the cuisine, the jobs, the great Catalan people of the century, all sorts of subjects were placed at the service of literature with the mission of gathering information, to rescue from oblivion all of Catalonia which was at the point of disappearing.
London, 1955. © Josep Vergés.
Fundació Josep Pla, col. Edicions Destino.
Martí Farreras, Jaume Vicens Vives, Xavier Montsalvatge, Néstor Luján, Josep Vergés, Josep Pla, Ignasi Agustí, Carles Sentís, Manel Ribes (son), MAnel Ribes (father), Luís Meléndez, Joaquim Muntañola, in front of the the editorial department of Revista Destino. Barcelona, 1955. Fundació Josep Pla, col·l. Josep Vergés.
1948
He moves to Mas Pla in Llofriu for good.
1949
He begins his contribution to Editorial Selecta (publishers).
1950-1956
Some of his well-known books such as El carrer Estret (The Narrow Street), Girona. Un llibre de records (Girona. A Book of Memories) and Cartes d’Itàlia (Letters from Italy) are published by Editorial Selecta (publishers).
1953
He travels to Portugal, València and Madrid. He also travels to Cuba.
1954
He travels to New York. His contribution to “Diario de Barcelona” comes to an end.
1955
He visits Josep Terradellas, president of “La Generalitat” in exile, in Paris. He travels to England.
1956
He starts to edit his Obres Completes (Complete Works), comprising 20 volumes, in Editorial Selecta (publishers). He travels to Italy and Greece.
1957
He goes to Israel and South America. He is awarded the Premi Lletra d’Or (Gold prize for literature) for his book Barcelona. Papers d’un estudiant (Barcelona. A student’s papers).
1958
He goes to Brazil. He starts the series Homenots (Great Men) and publishes Israel en los presentes días (Israel in modern times).
1959
He goes to Switzerland. He travels across The Red Sea, The Gulf of Persia, The Indian Ocean, The Atlantic Ocean, The Caribbean ending in Valparaíso.
1960
He travels to America. He starts to contribute to “El Correo Catalan” (until 1965).
1962
His contribution to Editorial Selecta (publishers) comes to an end.
1963
He travels to the United States.
1964
He travels to Puerto Rico, Brazil and Argentina.
1965
His mother dies. He travels to Majorca with Baltasar Porcel.
