Josep Maria Llompart lived a great part of his life at Llorenç Riber Street in the Pere Garau district.
WE HAD VISITORS ON SUNDAY AFTERNOONS
They left their coats on hangers
as if leaving there the skin of death itself,
scrawnily commonplace.
Mask well secured – the tragic
persona – they sowed the seed
of phonographic conversation
in the papery air
of the living room.
The record, slightly scratched, stumbled
now and then. Yawns opened;
the fans
snapped shut.
Uncle and aunt were there
and schoolgirl cousins.
The moth-eaten
light of dusk.
I, in the corner, all alone, not glaring
death rays, played
with tin soldiers.
Memòries i confessions d’un adolescent de casa bona (Memoirs and Confessions of a Well-Bred Adolescent), 1974
Translated by Rachel Waters.
(Palma 1925 – 1993). Llompart was literary critic and poet, and in his own words, his first contact with Catalan literature was reading the Rondaies mallorquines (Majorcan folktales) during a period of illness as a child. In the post-war years he took part in the cultural resistance against Franco’s regime, becomingly increasingly committed. He worked on Camilo J. Cela’s “Papeles de Son Armadans” and at the publishing house Editorial Moll as a literary critic and editor. He is part of the so-called Generation of 1950 together with Jaume Vidal Alcover, Bernat Vidal i Tomàs, Llorenç Moyà, Manuel Sanchis Guarner and others. Highlights of his work as a literary critic and literary historian are: Literatura moderna a les Balears (Modern literature in the Balearics, 1964), Retòrica i poètica (Rhetoric and poetics, 1982) and La narrativa a les Illes Balears (Narrative in the Balearics, 1992). Key works amongst his poetic output are Poemes de Mondragó (Poems from Mondragó, 1961), Memòries i confessions d’un adolescent de casa bona (Memories and confessions of an adolescent from a good home, 1974), La capella dels Dolors i altres poemes (The chapel of Sorrows, and other poems, 1981) and Jerusalem (1990). Llompart’s poetry investigates the same themes and motifs, achieving over the years a great formal perfection. He excelled as a promoter and translator of Galician and Portuguese poets. He was president of the Obra Cultural Balear (1978-1986).
Memòries i confessions d’un adolescent de casa bona (Memoirs and Confessions of a Well-Bred Adolescent) recounts childhood episodes and brief family anecdotes. The past and remoteness of time are evoked through words, gestures and places, accompanied by a subtle hint of irony or criticism. Vanished childhood and experienced sentiments are described through the personal inner voice of the one who recalls them.
Pere Garau is a district in the new area of Palma that was developed when its defensive walls were demolished in the early 20th century, partly due to the city’s demographic growth. This forced it to spread beyond the walls, with the construction of new residential zones. Several urban plans contributed to the new area’s makeup. The first was the Calvet Plan, which contemplated the demolition of the defensive walls and initial development of the new areas. Pere Garau’s streets and housing gradually took shape during the early decades of the 20th century. In the 1940s, Pere Garau market opened, acting as a hub for the neighbourhood and reference point for its residents.
