Joan Brossa, 79, a Poet in Surrealist Circle

January 4, 1999
New York Times

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

BARCELONA -- Joan Brossa, a versatile poet associated with some of the pillars of the Spanish Surrealist movement and best known for his "visual poems," died on Wednesday in a hospital here. He was 79.

The cause was a heart attack, the national Spanish television network TVE reported.

A friend of the artist Joan Miro, Brossa founded a Surrealist magazine in 1948 with another Catalan artist, Antoni Tapies.

Brossa's poems, written in Catalan, were first published in 1951. His last book came out in 1987. Known for his caustic wit and hostility toward artistic convention, he began developing his visual poems in the 1950's. One was a rifle barrel topped with a church candle snuffer and titled "Conscientious Objector."

Several examples of his work are in Spanish museums.

Brossa, who fought for the Republicans in the 1936-39 Spanish Civil War with a book by the Spanish poet Federico Garcia a Lorca in his pocket, was awarded several prizes for his contributions to Spanish culture.

He is survived by his wife, Pepa Llopis.

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