Felipe Alfau
Encyclopedia
Felipe Alfau was a Catalan American
novelist and poet
. Like his contemporaries Luigi Pirandello
and Flann O'Brien
, Alfau is considered a forerunner of later postmodern writers such as Vladimir Nabokov
, Thomas Pynchon
, Donald Barthelme
, and Gilbert Sorrentino
.
Born in Barcelona
, Alfau emigrated with his family at the age of fourteen to the United States
, where he lived the remainder of his life. Alfau earned a living as a translator
; his sparse fictional and poetic output remained obscure throughout most of his life.
Alfau wrote two novels in English
: Locos: A Comedy of Gestures and Chromos. Locos — a metafictive
collection of related short stories set in Toledo
and Madrid
, involving several characters that defy the wishes of the author, write their own stories, and even assume each others' roles — was published by Farrar and Rinehart in 1936. The novel, for which Alfau was paid $250, received some critical acclaim, but little popular attention. The novel was republished in 1987 after Steven Moore
, then an editor for the small publisher Dalkey Archive Press
found the book at a barn sale in Massachusetts
, read it, and contacted Alfau after finding his telephone number in the Manhattan
phone book. The novel's second incarnation was modestly successful, but Alfau refused payment, instructing the publisher to use the earnings from Locos to fund some other unpublished work. When Steven Moore asked if he had written any other books, Alfau produced the manuscript for Chromos, which had been resting in a drawer since 1948. Chromos, a comic story of Spanish immigrants to the United States
contending with their two cultures, went on to be nominated for the National Book Award
in 1990.
Alfau also wrote a book of poetry in Spanish, Sentimental Songs (La poesía cursi), written between 1923 and 1987 and published in a bilingual edition in 1992; and a book of children's stories, Old Tales from Spain, published in 1929.
Locos, Chromos and Old Tales from Spain were translated to Spanish and published in Spain during the 90's.
His last years were spent in an octogenarian nursing home in New York, thanks to an indigent pension granted by the city council. Felipe Alfau died in New York in 1999.
Catalan American
Catalan Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who acknowledge ethnic Catalan ancestry and self-identify with it. The group is formed by Catalan-born naturalized citizens or residents, their descendants and, to a lesser extent, citizens or residents of Catalan descent who came...
novelist and poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
. Like his contemporaries Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello
Luigi Pirandello was an Italian dramatist, novelist, and short story writer awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1934, for his "bold and brilliant renovation of the drama and the stage." Pirandello's works include novels, hundreds of short stories, and about 40 plays, some of which are written...
and Flann O'Brien
Flann O'Brien
Brian O'Nolan was an Irish novelist, playwright and satirist regarded as a key figure in postmodern literature. Best known for novels such as At Swim-Two-Birds, The Third Policeman and An Béal Bocht and many satirical columns in The Irish Times Brian O'Nolan (5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966) was...
, Alfau is considered a forerunner of later postmodern writers such as Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
, Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Pynchon
Thomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
, Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme
Donald Barthelme was an American author known for his playful, postmodernist style of short fiction. Barthelme also worked as a newspaper reporter for the Houston Post, managing editor of Location magazine, director of the Contemporary Arts Museum in Houston , co-founder of Fiction Donald...
, and Gilbert Sorrentino
Gilbert Sorrentino
Gilbert Sorrentino was an American novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and editor.In over twenty-five works of fiction and poetry, Sorrentino explored the comic and formal possibilities of language and literature...
.
Born in Barcelona
Barcelona
Barcelona is the second largest city in Spain after Madrid, and the capital of Catalonia, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of...
, Alfau emigrated with his family at the age of fourteen to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, where he lived the remainder of his life. Alfau earned a living as a translator
Translation
Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. Whereas interpreting undoubtedly antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature; there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of...
; his sparse fictional and poetic output remained obscure throughout most of his life.
Alfau wrote two novels in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
: Locos: A Comedy of Gestures and Chromos. Locos — a metafictive
Metafiction
Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
collection of related short stories set in Toledo
Toledo, Spain
Toledo's Alcázar became renowned in the 19th and 20th centuries as a military academy. At the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 its garrison was famously besieged by Republican forces.-Economy:...
and Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, involving several characters that defy the wishes of the author, write their own stories, and even assume each others' roles — was published by Farrar and Rinehart in 1936. The novel, for which Alfau was paid $250, received some critical acclaim, but little popular attention. The novel was republished in 1987 after Steven Moore
Steven Moore (US author)
Steven Moore is an American author and literary critic. Best known as an authority on the novels of William Gaddis, he published the first volume of his major work The Novel: An Alternative History in April 2010.-Biography/Career:...
, then an editor for the small publisher Dalkey Archive Press
Dalkey Archive Press
Dalkey Archive Press is a publisher of fiction, poetry, and literary criticism in Illinois in the United States, specializing in the publication or republication of lesser known, often avant-garde works...
found the book at a barn sale in Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
, read it, and contacted Alfau after finding his telephone number in the Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
phone book. The novel's second incarnation was modestly successful, but Alfau refused payment, instructing the publisher to use the earnings from Locos to fund some other unpublished work. When Steven Moore asked if he had written any other books, Alfau produced the manuscript for Chromos, which had been resting in a drawer since 1948. Chromos, a comic story of Spanish immigrants to the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
contending with their two cultures, went on to be nominated for the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
in 1990.
Alfau also wrote a book of poetry in Spanish, Sentimental Songs (La poesía cursi), written between 1923 and 1987 and published in a bilingual edition in 1992; and a book of children's stories, Old Tales from Spain, published in 1929.
Locos, Chromos and Old Tales from Spain were translated to Spanish and published in Spain during the 90's.
His last years were spent in an octogenarian nursing home in New York, thanks to an indigent pension granted by the city council. Felipe Alfau died in New York in 1999.
Writings
- Old Tales from Spain. Illustrated by Rhea Wells. Garden City-New York: Doubleday, Doran & Company, Inc., 1929.
- Locos: A Comedy of Gestures. New York: Farrar & Rinehart Inc., 1936.
- Locos: A Comedy of Gestures. Preface by F. A. Afterword by Mary McCarthy. Champaign-London: Dalkey Archive Press, 1988.
- Chromos. Introduction by Joseph Coates. Dalkey Archive Press, 1990.
- Sentimental Songs. La poesía cursi. Bilingual edition. Translated with an introduction by Ilan Stavans. Dalkey Archive Press, 1992.