The Gray Notebook

Josep Pla (1897-1981) was born in Palafrugell, in the Catalan region of Empordà, in 1897. Considered by many to be the most important writer of contemporary Catalan literature, he is also undoubtedly one of the most prolific, as his work totals 47 volumes. In 1909, Pla went to study in Girona and, in 1913, moved to Barcelona, ​​where he studied Science and Medicine and graduated in Law. However, he dedicated his life to journalism and literature. He published his first book in 1925. Coses Vistes, which quickly became a huge success with both the public and critics. As a journalist, he was a correspondent in several countries and was exiled twice, in Paris and Rome, for opinion articles criticizing the Spanish political regime. He worked as a correspondent in Madrid throughout the Republican period (1931-1936), but left the city on the eve of the start of the Spanish Civil War. During the conflict, Pla lived in Barcelona, ​​Marseille, and Rome. In the immediate postwar period, and in the wake of disillusionment with the political and social direction of his country, he retired to Empordà. In 1939, Pla published his first article in the Catalan magazine DestinationThis collaboration allowed him to travel extensively around the world again—France, Israel, Cuba, New York, the Middle East, South America, the Soviet Union—no longer as a correspondent, but as an observer journalist, writing not only extraordinary reports but also remarkable travel books.