The literary career of Daniel Recasens, a lawyer and current Culture Councillor for the Reus City Council, joins the ranks of writers who have found politics a starting point, following in the footsteps of authors like Antoni Rovira i Virgili or Àngel Guimerà. Recasens presents a subtly growing body of work, seeking the details and emotions that shape human relationships, promising surprising emotional impact.
Born in Reus on November 27, 1972, his first contact with the publishing world came through a literary award. His volume 'Trossets d'existència' (Òmnium Baix Camp, 1998), which included the poem 'No hi ha pena sense dol ni culpa', emerged from an honourable mention in the Òmnium Baix Camp Literary Awards. Initially, he thought publishing might be simpler than it turned out to be.
The happiest moment as a writer, he confesses, was receiving the news of his first novel's publication, a joy he hadn't expected. His literary aspiration is to continue writing, with more natural access to publication and to enjoy a readership, without much further ambition.
Recasens describes his literary style as marked by an undeniable lyricism, featuring extreme punctuation and digressive subordination. He enjoys playing with imagery and literary devices, paying close attention to vocabulary. His writing process begins with intense mental preparation, taking notes and writing fragments that he later connects, especially when he feels a clear direction for the work.
When writing continuously, he enjoys listening to music, with albums like The Cure's 'The Disintegration' or Glenn Gould's 'Goldberg Variations' forming part of his writing soundscape. Although he has never completed a play, he is interested in the genre, feeling he lacks the necessary technique.
He has published three books under his name: a novel, a poetry collection, and a short story, in addition to texts in collective publications. While he admires authors like Dostoevsky or Verdaguer, he admits to being a sparse reader of classics. Among his contemporary influences are Kundera, Calvino, Pavese, Salter, or Munro.
He does not consider his literary world a 'job', especially now that, as Culture Councillor, he has a different perspective. Those who dedicate themselves professionally, particularly in Catalan, he views as 'mythological beings'. The greatest drawback of writing is uncertainty and the pressure not to repeat oneself.
The book he wishes he had written includes Salter's short stories or Eugenides' 'The Marriage Plot'. What he most enjoys writing is often the work in progress. He is currently reading 'Between Friends' by Hal Ebott. He recommends James Salter's 'Light Years' and, from his own work, 'Era només la boira' (It Was Just the Fog), which he feels represents him poetically. He cannot imagine writing historical fiction.
His latest published work is 'Era només la boira', in which he highlights the construction of a personal space that expands and contracts, offering a refuge. He fondly remembers the editor of his novel, who passed away shortly after its publication, along with his publishing house. He is currently working on a novel about the idea of an impossible retirement.
