Marcos Ricardo Barnatan

Marcos Ricardo Barnatán Hodari (Buenos Aires, Argentina, December 14, 1946) is a Spanish-Argentine poet and critic. He is the author of more than forty books, some of them translated into other languages.

He acquired Spanish nationality in 1981. He is married to the writer and journalist Rosa María Pereda and is the father of the actor, musician and novelist Jimmy Barnatán.

Biography

He studied literature at the universities of Buenos Aires and Madrid, the city where he took up residence in 1965 and in whose publishers he published from a very young age, as well as editing the poetic collection "Pájaros de papel".

In the 1970s he began collaborating in the Spanish press as a literary critic for the now-defunct newspapers Madrid, Informaciones and Pueblo, and later in El País and Diario 16. He was an art critic at that time in the magazines Guadalimar and Triunfo and from its foundation until 2008 for the newspaper El Mundo . He has collaborated with numerous cultural magazines in Spain and abroad, including Revista de Occidente, Cuadernos para el Diálogo, Ínsula, Barcarola, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos or Letra Internacional.

He has published several books on contemporary art, and is the author of numerous works on Spanish and foreign artists. He has also been a jury for art awards and biennials, including the National Fine Arts and Photography Awards. As a speaker, he has been invited to speak on numerous occasions by cultural centers and universities both in Spain and abroad. He has also curated several exhibitions in museums in Spain and Argentina, including the one dedicated to the Argentine painter Xul Solar at the Museo Reina Sofía (2002), an anthology by Eduardo Arroyo at the Valencian IVAM (2007) and the photographic selection of Mario Muchnik in various locations of the Instituto Cervantes (since 2017).

He is a recognized specialist in the work of Jorge Luis Borges, to whose study he has devoted half a dozen books since 1971; the last one, Borges, biography total (1996), is considered the definitive biography of the Argentine writer. As an essayist, he has been interested in other topics, such as Jewish mysticism or the works of Eduardo Sanz and Fernando Savater.

He edited and prefaced two anthologies of the work of the poet Manuel Álvarez Ortega, the first for the Plaza & Janés (Barcelona, 1972) and the second for the Signos collection of the Huerga y Fierro publishing house (Madrid, 2003).

Her poetry has been translated into English, French, German, Italian, Swedish, Arabic, Catalan and Hebrew.

Work

Poetry

• About travel. Pájaro Cascabel, Madrid-Mexico, 1966.
• Three fantastic poems. Caffarena, Malaga, 1967.
• Lost Steps. Rialp, Madrid, 1968.
• Labirinth. Notebooks of the Unicorn, Buenos Aires, 1969.
• Serenade. Caffarena, Malaga, 1969.
• The book of talisman. Bezoar, Madrid, 1970.
• Larger ark (with Peter Cohen's drawings). Visor, Madrid, 1973.
• Eggs (with 4 engravings of Adolfo Barnatán). The Iron Currency, Madrid, 1978.
• The scripture of the seer (with drawings by Martin Chirino). La Gaya Ciencia, Barcelona, 1979.
• The oracle invoked (1965-1983). Visor, Madrid, 1984.
• Five poems of David Jerusalem. Tapir, Madrid, 1986.
• The Book of David Jerusalem. Barcarola, Albacete, 1992; 2nd ed.: The Book of David Jerusalem and Other Poems. Ars Poetica Collection, Siero, 2017.
• August (with 5 etchings of Miguel Condé). Sen, Madrid, 1994.
• General consulate (selection) (with an Eugenio Granell engraving). Kábala, Madrid, 1995; ed. completa: Tusquets, Barcelona, 2001.
• Black moon (ed. Spanish-Catalan bilingual) (with 9 Pep Coll lithographs). Edicions 6a Obra Gràfica, Palma de Mallorca, 1995.
• The soul that sings (with collages of the author). Sen, Madrid, 1998.
• The roof of the temple (anthology). Huerga & Fierro, Madrid, 1999; (selection) (with Miguel Rasero engravings): Tabelaria, Barcelona, 2003; ed. completa: Alción Editora, Córdoba (Argentina), 2003.
• Poetry at the Residence. Student Residence, Madrid, 2000.
• Naipes marked (with 5 engravings of Ricardo Horcajada). From Centro Editores, Madrid, 2006; selection: Aula Díez Canedo, Asociación de Escritores Extremeños, Badajoz, 2007; ed. The roof of the temple: Books of the Air, Madrid, 2010; ed. corr. y aum.: Sediento Editions, Mexico, 2013.
• About poetry and poets (anthology). Clandestine Planet, Logroño, 2013.
• And more could death (anthology). Logroño City Council, Logroño, 2015.
• Every night in the world (1965-2015). Zenocrate, Bogotá, 2017.

Essay

• Jorge Luis Borges (biography). Spanish Editions and Publications, Madrid, 1972.
• Borges, the poet. Jucar, Madrid.1972.
• The Kabbalah, a mystical language. Barral Editores, Barcelona, 1974; 3rd ed.: Akal. Madrid, 1993.
• Events that changed history. Planet, Madrid, 1975.
• The metaphors of Eduardo Sanz. Rayuela, Madrid, 1976.
• Know Borges and his work. Dopesa, Barcelona, 1978; 2nd ed.: Barcanova. Barcelona, 1984.
• Jorge Luis Borges: Narratives (Editor). Chair, Madrid, 1980.
• Fernando Savater against the whole. Anjana, Madrid, 1984.
• The Zohar. Basic readings of the Kabbalah. Editions of the Dragon, Madrid, 1986; 2nd ed.: EDAF, Madrid, 1996.
• Madrid, star theatre. The art of the 90s. Editions Libertarias, Madrid, 1995.
• Borges: total biography. Temas de Hoy, Madrid, 1995; 2nd ed.:, 1998; dos eds. en Planeta Colombiana, Bogotá, 1996.

Narrative

• The Maze of Zion. Barral Editores, Barcelona, 1971; 2nd ed.: Anjana Editions, Madrid, 1986.
• Gor. Barral Editores, Barcelona, 1973.
• Diano. Jucar, Madrid, 1982.
• The horoscope of infants (chuckles). Editions of the Dragon, Madrid, 1988.
• With withered forehead. Versal, Barcelona, 1989; 2nd ed.: Losada, Buenos Aires, 1990.
• The Republic of Monaco (full lists). Seix Barral, Barcelona, 2000.
• Aircraft in Longwood House (with engravings by José Manuel Ciria). Sen, Madrid, 2001.
• Two thousand and a few nights (daily). Alhulia Editorial, Granada, 2005.
• Waiting for Nostradamus (with 3 drawings by Paul Sobisch). Del Centro Editores, Madrid, 2014.
• Errante in the shadow (chuckles). El Desvelo, Santander, 2015.
• Someone writes his real name (counts gathered). Zenocrate, Bogotá, 2017.

Translation

• Anthology of the Beat Generation. Plaza & Janés, Barcelona, 1970.
• Antonin Artaud: The heavinessVisor, Madrid, 1976.
• Gilgamesh's epic (free version) Lumen, Barcelona, 1986.

Translated books

• Conhecer Borges and his work (trad.: José Bento). Editora Ulisseia, Lisbon, 1978.
• Mitternacht/Medianoche (Bilingual poetic anthology) (trad.: Angelika Lochmann, Adolfo Murguía). Claudia Gehrke Verlag, Tübingen, 1992.
• Att anropa oraklet (poetic anthology) (trad and prol.: Lasse Söderberg). Ellerströms, Lund, 1997.
• A Bilingual Anthology of Contemporary Spanish Poetry The Generation of 1970 (trad.: Luis A. Ramos-Garcia, Dave Oliphant; introd.: Miguel Casado.) Edwin Mellen Press, New York, 1997.

Awards

• 1967 - Accésit of the Adonija de Poesía Award for Lost Steps.
• 1972 - Accésit del Premio Barral de Novela by Gor.
• 1992 - Barcarola International Poetry Award The Book of David Jerusalem.