The Valencian poet and writer Josep Piera died this Sunday, as reported by the Gandia City Council, which mourned his death and extended its condolences to the family and friends of “one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Valencian literature.”
Born in Beniopa, Gandia, 78 years ago, Josep Piera Rubio graduated in teaching in Valencia, where he came into contact with the literary movement known as the Generation of the 70s, of which he was one of the main representatives. He cultivated autobiographical narration, inspired by the experiences of his numerous trips through the Mediterranean, with long stays in Greece, Italy and Morocco, and in the landscapes of La Drova, in Barx (Valencia), where he settled from 1974.
He also published biographies of Valencian figures such as Ausiàs March, San Francisco de Borja and Teodoro Llorente; He developed important work as a translator, both of Andalusian Arabic poetry and contemporary Italian poetry; He founded literary magazines, and directed the publications of the Tres i Quatre publishing house.
Throughout his life he received numerous recognitions, such as the Ausiàs March, Carles Riba, Josep Pla and Alfons el Magnànim awards, the Creu de Sant Jordi, the distinction as Favorite Son of Gandia and the Distinction of the Generalitat Valenciana in 2021 for his outstanding literary career and “his indispensable participation, for half a century, in Valencian cultural life.” In 2023 he received the 55th Honor Prize for Catalan Literature, awarded by Òmnium Cultural, in recognition of his literary career, in an act in which he claimed his land, especially the Drova area, his “place in the world.”
The mayor of Gandia, José Manuel Prieto, has been deeply saddened and shocked by Piera’s death and has assured that “an exceptional writer” is lost, as well as “a good man” who leaves an “immeasurable legacy of wisdom and good writing.”