Cyrus Cassells’ The Man with the Oar on His Shoulder: Poems of Francesc Parcerisas, translated from the Catalan, has just received an Honorable Mention for the 2025 Stephen Mitchell Prize for Excellence in Translation. Cassells conceived of the project at Civitella, in Castrobecco in June 2023, and finished the manuscript during an independent sojourn in Pizza in December 2024. Congratulations, Cyrus– we’re happy Civitella helped provide the time and space to make this happen!
“The Man with the Oar on His Shoulder is a hearty paean to poet Francesc Parcerisas, born in 1944, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It is a celebration of his cosmopolitan genius as Catalan Spain’s foremost poet, memoirist, and unflagging translator into Catalan of world literature. The book is also an alive emblem of a friendship that has endured over four decades, one that has fostered my ongoing apprenticeship as an engaged student of Catalan language and culture.”