The Silent Letter

Award-winning poet, translator and academic, Jaume Subirana is one of Catalonia’s most treasured poets, winning some of its most prestigious prizes for his poetry and essays. In an eloquent translation from accomplished poet and translator Christopher Whyte, The Silent Letter showcases Subirana’s sharp observations, delicate eye for detail, stunningly beautiful images, and poignant suspension of the moment.

Sasha Dugdale, award-winning poet and translator

"I think Jaume’s work is astounding, I was grasping for ways to describe it: delicate and profound. The Silent Letter translated by Christopher Whyte who has reproduced the wonderfully taut lyric of Jaume’s Catalonian work. My Best Poetry of 2020 list would be alarming and capacious like a great aunt’s handbag – but it would definitely include this (The Silent Letter) on this morning’s reading...”

Robert Pisani. Full review here

If one is unsure about poetry or is wants to explore poetry in translation then The Silent Letter is a perfect primer and once again Fum d’Estampa Press have shown that they are a publisher with a high quality rate and are slowly becoming an indie powerhouse with each release (spoiler, there will be another review from this press in the near future).

Bookmunch Literary Blog. Full review here

In achieving balance and perspective – cultural resonance drawn from life, nature and simple observation – the author provides inspiration to pay quiet attention and live well.

From Jackie Law’s blog review. Full review here.

The poems bring to life the beauty of nature and its ability to calm inner turbulence. Time is given over to watching raindrops catching light on a windowpane. Snow blankets the ground, bringing with it a feeling of peace … Such visual pleasures are presented succinctly, avoiding the garish, leaving a contrail of enchantment in what many will fail to notice as they chatter and look forward to their next experience. The poems offer a cessation in the rush and noise – the fear of missing some opportunity that blinds to what is here already.

From John-Paul Davies’ review for Buzz Magazine. Full review here.

Subirana’s collection is beautifully presented in the original Catalan, with the English translation on the opposite page. If, like me, you’re not so good at reading Catalan, it’s still a treat to turn the words over in your mouth, with the meaning, so well-rendered by Whyte on the opposite page, bringing clarity. Not that Subirana’s poetry is reading that feels like work. It’s best summed up in the entirety of Buson In Venice, “The gilded splendor of / the sun on stones / tired of being beautiful”. In a time when making new memories worth cherishing presents a challenge, Subirana reminds us such moments are all around us, every day.

From Kaggsy’s Bookish Ramblings. Full review here.

Subirana’s poetry is very immediate, something I love; and his works range in length from haiku length verses to longer works stretching over several pages. The poet discusses love, life, nature, loss – the usual subjects you’d expect. I suppose – and in beautiful, elegant and evocative lines. I marvelled, as I often do, as to how a poet can capture so much in so few words, convey so much that’s actually not spelled out in their verses.

Manuel Castaño, El Pais

“Subirana delights the reader because he is a poet capable of illuminating the importance of the moment, because he concentrates in but a few words the implied dimensions of often banal episodes or fleeting thoughts. The poem, 84th Street, for example, paints a scene in which someone, probably a couple, contemplates a nocturnal storm from their 21st floor flat, therefore underlining their elevation above other, daily preoccupations. It’s a moment of tranquillity, but also of worry: “how many more streets / before we meet / our destiny.” His poetry is a spark of joy in the face of the vertiginous passing of time.”

Jordi Llavina, Diari Ara

“In yet another glorious snapshot of poetry of the interior (Family Cinema), Subirana’s beautiful microscopic view of life associates “a popcorn explodes” with the following line: “like snow, laughter / reverberates.” … He continues to convince us of his own personal truth and his discreetly magnificent writing.”

Enric Umbert-Rexach, El Nacional

“Subirana’s singular poetry expresses both the enigma and the perplexity it can provoke within the patient observer of landscape. He is enchanted by the triviality of the self before the grandiosity of the surroundings, bringing form to this through an austere, timeless poetry.” Enric Umbert-Rexach, El Nacional

Gerard E. Mur, El Nuvol

“Subirana plays with surprise, a game he is particularly good at when working with maximum brevity in his poetry.”

Jordi Galves, La Vanguardia

“Subirana is ever faithful to his poetry, bringing it to lifetime and again. His work is serene, excellent, full of echoes of literary standing and precise creativity. His is a mature, important poetry. Bravo.”

Jordi Carrera, Un dia en les carreras

“Subirana demonstrates yet again that he is a strong, sensitive, minimalist poet who writes because he is in tune with tones and bursts of colour, of smells and aromas, and touch. He constructs his objects carefully, building them through his text, imagery and all of the efimer pleaures that, quite naturally, are impossible to otherwise communicate.”

Francesc Parcerisas

“Open any of Subirana’s books at random and you will feel yourself carried away by the natural current of his beautiful poetry.”