Poet Miquel Desclot completes Catalan translation of Petrarch masterpiece ‘Il Canzoniere’
The Catalan literary corpus has recently incorporated a new addition: ‘Il Canzoniere’ (‘Songbook’) by Francesco Petrarca. This masterpiece by the poet from Tuscany was translated into Catalan intermittently during 20 years by the Catalan poet Miquel Desclot. Desclot began working on the volume in 1994, following the path of the Catalan poet Osbald Cardona, who attempted an incomplete translation in the 50s, and his work has now come to fruition. According to Desclot, the last stage of the translation process was “insane” and kept him fully occupied for the last two years. The Petrarch masterpiece has 366 poems and a total of 7,785 verses, which now can be enjoyed by Catalan readers in their own language, thanks to Desclot and the edition released by the Catalan publisher Proa.