Joseba Sarrionandia

Last updated

Joseba Sarrionandia
Joseba Sarrionandia - 2016 (cropped).jpg
Born (1958-04-13) April 13, 1958 (age 64)
Iurreta, Basque Autonomous Community, Spain
Pen nameSarri
Occupation
Language Basque
Alma mater University of Deusto
Notable awards
  • Ignacio Aldekoa Prize (1980)
  • Resurreccion Maria Azkue Prize (1980)
  • Bilbao City Council Prize (1980)
  • Spanish Literature critics', Basque Narrative Prize (1986 and 2001)
  • Euskadi Prize for Essay in Basque (2011)

Joseba Sarrionandia Uribelarrea (Iurreta, Biscay, April 13, 1958) is a Basque writer who has published a large number of books of poetry and short stories, as well as novels. He has been awarded on numerous occasions for his work, and is nowadays a respected literary personality in the Basque Country.

Contents

In the early 80s, he was member of the Basque separatist group ETA. In 1985 he escaped from prison and since then he lived underground for decades while continuing to create and publish. In November 2016, it was revealed that he lives in Cuba, where he holds a position as lecturer at the University of Havana.

Biography

He earned a Basque Philology PhD from the University of Deusto, Bilbao and started working as a Basque language teacher. He taught phonetics in the Bergara center of the UNED and also in the Udako Euskal Unibertsitatea and wrote pieces for Zeruko Argia , Anaitasuna , Jakin and Oh Euzkadi magazines. [1] He started the Pott Banda group along with Bernardo Atxaga, Manu Ertzilla, Ruper Ordorika, Jon Juaristi and Joxemari Iturralde. He also created the Ibaizabal magazine. He worked with short narrations and also translated books, notably Samuel Taylor Coleridge's The Rime of the Ancient Mariner .

In 1980, while a member of ETA he was arrested by Spanish police and sentenced to 22 years in prison. Since then the realities of prison have appeared in his writings. In 1985 on San Fermin day (July 7) he escaped from prison with Iñaki Pikabea as there was a concert in the jail with Basque singer Imanol Larzabal. They hid themselves inside a loudspeaker. [2] The Basque Radical Rock group Kortatu created the song Sarri, Sarri in honor of this. The escape was planned with theater critic Mikel Albisu, who would become the leader of ETA. During three months, the two fugitives and Antza were hiding in a flat in San Sebastián, before moving to France. [1]

Since that day he has lived in secret and the topic of banishment/exile is foremost in his writing. In his novel Lagun Izoztua (in Basque The Frozen Friend) he writes about banishment. He has written books and poems which have been sung by different Basque singers as Jexuxmai Lopetegi, Mikel Laboa, Ruper Ordorika and Fermin Muguruza. There is also an audio book called Hau da ene ondasun guzia with his voice reading poems and many songs performed by different singers.

On 3 October 2011, he was awarded the Euskadi Prize for Essay in Basque for his work Moroak gara behelaino artean? (Are we Moors in the fog?) on the miseries of colonialism; however, the Basque Government withheld the prize sum of 18,000 euros until the author's status was resolved. [3] [4] On the same day, judges and lawyers interviewed by Cadena SER confirmed that Sarrionandia could not be prosecuted by Spanish law, as more than 20 years had passed since his original prison sentence and his escape. While terrorist acts have no time limit, the provision applies only if there was at least one victim. [5] After a month and a half, the Spanish High Court confirmed to the Basque government that Sarrionandia was 'clean', with no criminal or civil liability. The prize amount was handed over to his family. [6]

According to Spanish counter-terrorism sources, the writer has been hiding in Cuba. In 2014, he accepted the invitation of Mondragon University to give two lectures in Eskoriatza. It would have been his first public appearance since his escape in 1985. [7] However, he cancelled the trip because he did not obtain the traveling permissions he needed. [8] Even though the Cuban government has not acknowledged his presence, El Mundo reported in 2015 that Sarrionandia went to the Spanish consulate to regulate his status. [9]

Bernardo Atxaga divided Sarrionandia's works in four distinct chronological phases. In the first phase, a young Sarrionandia wanted to be a part of Basque literature through a literary magazine. In the second phase, the imprisoned poet talked about suffering (La literatura y la revolución). In the third phase, after his escape, his themes were exile and homeland (Geografía, He llegado a casa casi a medianoche). In the current phase, "the brightest of them all," Sarrionandia is more serene, with a sense of humor and irony. Atxaga speculates on a fifth phase, based on the poem La vida ha llegado y tiene tus ojos, where the "life that has arrived" could be a child. [10]

Works

Translations

He has translated books by Samuel Taylor Coleridge ( The Rime of the Ancient Mariner ), Constantine P. Cavafy, T. S. Eliot, Manuel Bandeira, Fernando Pessoa (Marinela), Marcel Schwob (La Croisade des enfants), Dolf Verroen (Slaaf kindje slaaf) and various literary works of fifty different languages.

Prizes and recognition

One of his poems

Esklabu erremintaria
Sartaldeko oihanetan gatibaturik
Erromara ekarri zinduten, esklabua,
erremintari ofizioa eman zizuten
eta kateak egiten dituzu.
Labetik ateratzen duzun burdin goria
nahieran molda zenezake,
ezpatak egin ditzakezu
zure herritarrek kateak hauts deitzaten,
baina zuk, esklabu horrek,
kateak egiten dituzu, kate gehiago.
Joseba Sarrionandia

The blacksmith slave
Captive in the rainforests of the West
they brought you to Rome, slave,
they gave you the blacksmith work
and you make chains.
The red iron that you carry out the oven
can be adapted as you want,
you can make swords
in order that your people could break the chains,
but you, this slave,
you make chains, more chains.
Joseba Sarrionandia

Translation source

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ETA (separatist group)</span> Former armed Basque terrorist group (1959–2018)

ETA, an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, was an armed Basque nationalist and separatist terrorist organization in the Basque Country. The group was founded in 1959 and later evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group engaged in a violent campaign of bombing, assassinations, and kidnappings in the Southern Basque Country and throughout Spanish territory. Its goal was gaining independence for the Basque Country. ETA was the main group within the Basque National Liberation Movement and was the most important Basque participant in the Basque conflict.

Kortatu Basque ska punk band

Kortatu was a Basque ska punk band from the Basque Autonomous Community formed in Irun in the summer of 1984.

Txabi Etxebarrieta, also known as Xabier Etxebarrieta Ortiz, was a Basque nationalist and one of the founders of the terrorist organization Euskadi ta Askatasuna (ETA). He was the perpetrator of the first assassination carried out by this group, and also the first ETA militant killed in a confrontation with the Civil Guard, for which he became an icon within the inner circle of the terrorist group and its supporters Basque nationalism.

2006 Madrid–Barajas Airport bombing Van bomb by the Basque separatist organisation ETA

The 2006 Madrid–Barajas Airport bombing occurred on 30 December 2006 when a van bomb exploded in the Terminal 4 parking area at the Madrid–Barajas Airport in Spain, killing two and injuring 52. On 9 January 2007, the Basque nationalist and separatist organisation ETA claimed responsibility for the attack. The attack, one of the most powerful carried out by ETA, damaged the airport terminal and destroyed the entire parking structure. The bombing ended a nine-month ceasefire declared by the armed organisation and prompted the government to halt plans for negotiations with the organisation. Despite the attack, ETA claimed that the ceasefire was still in place and regretted the death of civilians. The organisation eventually announced the end of the ceasefire in June 2007.

Juan María Atutxa

Juan María Atutxa Mendiola is a politician from the Basque Country with a nationalist ideology. A member of the Basque Nationalist Party, he was Head of the Department of Interior (1991–98) and President of the Basque Parliament (1998–2005). He currently heads the Sabino Arana foundation.

Ruper Ordorika Musical artist

Ruper Ordorika, born at Oñati (Gipuzkoa) in 1956, is a Basque singer-songwriter. He is generally considered one of the greatest renewers of basque songwriting. He was part of the literary group Pott, with, among others, writers Joseba Sarrionandia, Bernardo Atxaga, J.M. Iturralde.

Basque conflict 1959–2011 armed and political conflict between Spain and Basque separatists

The Basque conflict, also known as the Spain–ETA conflict, was an armed and political conflict from 1959 to 2011 between Spain and the Basque National Liberation Movement, a group of social and political Basque organizations which sought independence from Spain and France. The movement was built around the separatist organization ETA, which had launched a campaign of attacks against Spanish administrations since 1959. ETA had been proscribed as a terrorist organization by the Spanish, British, French and American authorities at different moments. The conflict took place mostly on Spanish soil, although to a smaller degree it was also present in France, which was primarily used as a safe haven by ETA members. It was the longest running violent conflict in modern Western Europe. It has been sometimes referred to as "Europe's longest war".

2012 Basque regional election

The 2012 Basque regional election was held on Sunday, 21 October 2012, to elect the 10th Parliament of the Basque Autonomous Community. All 75 seats in the Parliament were up for election. The election was held simultaneously with a regional election in Galicia. Lehendakari Patxi López announced the parliament's dissolution half a year ahead of schedule as a result of the People's Party (PP) withdrawing their support from his government, prompting Galician president Alberto Núñez Feijóo, who had been scheduling a snap election in Galicia to be held at some point throughout late 2012, to make his decision to have a simultaneous vote.

Joxe Azurmendi Basque writer

Joxe Azurmendi Otaegi is a Basque writer, philosopher, essayist and poet. He has published numerous articles and books on ethics, politics, the philosophy of language, technique, Basque literature and philosophy in general.

Monbar Hotel attack 1985 shooting in Spain

The Monbar Hotel attack was carried out by the Grupos Antiterroristas de Liberación (GAL), a Spanish state-sponsored death squad, on 25 September 1985 in Bayonne, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France. The targets were four members of the Basque separatist terrorist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA), whom the Spanish government believed to be senior figures in the organization, itself proscribed as a terrorist group in Spain and France. All four people were killed, with a fifth person, apparently unconnected to ETA, injured in the shooting. This represented the deadliest attack carried out by the GAL. Although two of the participants were apprehended shortly after the shooting, controversy surrounded the possible involvement of senior figures in the Spanish police.

Basque National Liberation Movement prisoners are all those people who have been imprisoned, placed on remand, or otherwise kept in custody due to their illegal activity in support of the Basque National Liberation Movement.

David Pla Marín is a lawyer and Basque activist, who Spanish authorities believe to have been one of the three leaders of the Basque separatist group ETA at the time of the group's ceasefire declaration in October 2011. In 2000 Pla was condemned to six years imprisonment for planning an attack against the Mayor of Zaragoza, José Atarés. Pla is believed to be one of three people who read out the October 2011 ETA ceasefire declaration. He had previously been the leader of Basque separatist youth organisation Jarrai in the 1990s and had stood unsuccessfully as a candidate for Herri Batasuna in the 1995 local elections.

Etxerat

Etxerat is an association of family members of people who have been imprisoned or exiled because of their activity in support of the Basque National Liberation Movement. Most of those prisoners and exiles are members, or former members, of the Basque armed separatist organization ETA. Others were not members of ETA but have been jailed for collaborating with it, or have been convicted of other crimes such as belonging to illegal organizations like SEGI or Gestoras pro Amnistía, belonging to or trying to rebuild banned political parties such as Batasuna and Askatasuna, participating in Kale borroka, or for the "public glorification of terrorism". Etxerat's primary activities are to support those family members, and to campaign to defend the rights of their imprisoned and exiled relatives.

The Segovia prison break occurred in Segovia, Spain on 5 April 1976 when 29 political prisoners escaped from Segovia prison. This was the largest prison break in Spain since the Spanish Civil War. The prisoners escaped by means of tunnels they had excavated and then through the prison's drainage system. Hidden in a truck, they fled in the direction of the French border. Before reaching the border, their escape plans broke down and they found themselves stranded and lost in woodland in Navarre. Most of them were recaptured after a confrontation with the Civil Guards in Espinal, during which one of the prisoners was shot dead. The remaining four escapees managed to cross the French border and were detained by the French government, but escaped once again. In 1977, the Spanish authorities declared a general amnesty, after which the escapees were freed or could return to Spain.

Basque Venezuelans are citizens of Venezuela who are of Basque ancestry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joxantonio Ormazabal</span> Spanish writer

Joxantonio Ormazabal (1948–2010) was a Basque and Spanish author of primarily children's literature in the Basque language. He also published under the pen name of Joxean.

Joanes Urkixo

Joanes Urkixo Beitia is a Basque language writer, and film and television writer.

José Ignacio Iruretagoyena was a Spanish politician and victim of terrorism of the Basque separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA).

Hasier Arraiz Basque politician and ex-president of Sortu

Hasier Arraiz Barbadillo is a Spanish politician from the Basque Country. He was the first president of Sortu, and a member of the Basque Parliament.

Joseba Arregui Aramburu Spanish theologian, academic, and politician (1946–2021)

Joseba Arregui Aramburu was a Spanish politician, theologian, and academic.

References

  1. 1 2 "El Gobierno vasco retiene el Premio Euskadi de Ensayo a Sarrionandia por su pasado etarra" (in Spanish). El Correo. October 3, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  2. Javier García (July 8, 1985). "Dos 'etarras' lograron fugarse de la carcel de Martutene escondidos en aparatos de megafonía tras un recital". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  3. Borja Hermoso (October 3, 2011). "Controvertido Premio Euskadi de ensayo para Joseba Sarrionandia". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  4. Manuel Tabernas (June 10, 2013). ""La paz supone la renuncia a imponer relaciones de poder"" (in Spanish). Diagonal. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  5. Javier Alvarez (October 3, 2011). "Los delitos de Joseba Sarrionandia han prescrito" (in Spanish). Cadena SER. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  6. Inaki Esteban (November 11, 2011). "Los jueces afirman que Sarrionandia está 'limpio' y la familia recoge hoy el premio" (in Spanish). Diario Vasco . Retrieved May 20, 2016.
  7. Vasco Press (July 10, 2014). "Joseba Sarrionandia regresará de Cuba para ofrecer dos charlas en Gipuzkoa" (in Spanish). El Diario Vasco . Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  8. "Sarrionandia no podrá asistir a los cursos de Mondragon Unibertsitatea" (in Spanish). EITB. July 11, 2014. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  9. Ángeles Escrivá (February 28, 2015). "España pide la extradición de dos históricos etarras a Cuba" (in Spanish). El Mundo. Retrieved May 11, 2016.
  10. Leyre Eguskiza (June 3, 2015). "Atxaga defiende que a Sarrionandia se le encuentra en la poesía de su vida" (in Spanish). Deia. Retrieved May 20, 2016.