Josep Maria Boix i Selva (Barcelona, 1914-Girona, 1996). Poet, translator, professor and literary editor. He was the brother of the priest and prior of Montserrat, Maur Maria Boix, and the father of Xesco Boix, a folk musician. He studied Law and Philosophy and Humanities. With Salvador Espriu, Bartomeu Rosselló-Pòrcel, Joan Vinyoli, Rosa Leveroni, Joan Teixidor and others, he was part of the Generació del 36 (Generation of ’36). He was the author of numerous poetry collections with influences from Joan Maragall, Josep Maria López-Picó and several lyrical Castilian authors. He translated Milton’s Paradise Lost to unanimous praise from all critics.
He worked as the literary editor at Editorial Vergara, where he left a major personal mark at the helm of the Isard collection, created with the aim of publishing in the Catalan language an entire set of works representing all the literary genres by both historical and modern authors all over the world, as well as the most prestigious Catalan authors of the period. He painstakingly chose titles and authors and showed a great deal of sensitivity towards translations. His translators, many of them professional writers themselves, were highlighted on the back covers, and their credentials were provided. Among the awards he won are the Carles Riba Prize (1971) and the López Picó Poetry Prize (1976).
The Biblioteca de Catalunya conserves his personal papers, which contain personal correspondence as well as his correspondence as a publisher, press clippings and manuscripts by Catalan authors.
Josep Maria Boix i Selva collection at the Biblioteca de Catalunya
“Boix i Selva, poeta en el Paradís?” exhibition at the Biblioteca de Catalunya