Joseba Sarrionandia
| Joseba Sarrionandia | |
|---|---|
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| Born |
April 13, 1958 Iurreta, Basque Country |
| Pen name | Sarri |
| Occupation |
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| Language | Basque |
| Alma mater | University of Deusto |
| Notable awards |
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Joseba Sarrionandia Uribelarrea (Iurreta, Biscay, April 13, 1958 – ) is a Basque writer. He has written many books of poetry and short stories as well as novels. He was member of the Basque separatist group ETA. In 1985 he escaped from prison and since then has lived in secret as he continues writing.
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. 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. 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.
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