About the Book
“Brindis” is a collaborative poetry collection created by two Catalan writers, Maria Victòria Secall and Maria Àngels Cardona. Both poets are over seventy, and they teamed up to show that creativity does not fade with age. Published in September by Godall Edicions, the book mixes verses, images, and QR‑linked artwork to celebrate life, feminism, and the power of words.
The Poets Behind the Pages
Secall and Cardona have known each other for decades. Their long friendship fuels a deep complicity that lets them finish each other’s thoughts and build poems together. Their shared history includes feminist activism, joint projects, and a love for language that keeps them experimenting even in their later years.
What “Brindis” Means
The title translates to “Toast.” In the book, a toast is more than a celebratory drink; it symbolizes raising a glass to the experiences, struggles, and joys that shape a woman’s life. The poets use the act of toasting to honor aging, to acknowledge pain, and to look forward with hope.
Structure Inspired by a Tree
The collection is divided into seven sections, each mirroring a part of a tree. This natural framework helps the writers explore different facets of life and identity.
Roots – Foundation and Heritage
Poems here talk about where the women come from, family ties, and the cultural ground that sustains them.
Trunk – Strength and Core Self
These verses focus on resilience, personal values, and the steady support that lets them stand tall.
Branches – Reaching Out
Here the poets speak about relationships, friendships, and the desire to connect with others.
Leaves – Growth and Change
Leaves symbolize learning, new ideas, and the continuous process of evolving.
Fruit – Harvest of Experience
This part celebrates the wisdom gathered over a lifetime and the sweet results of lived experiences.
Bark – Protection and Vulnerability
Poems examine the shields we build and the moments when we let our guard down.
Seeds – Legacy and Future
The final section looks ahead, planting hopes for younger generations and the continuation of feminist struggle.
Visual and Interactive Elements
Throughout the book, QR codes link to photographs by Lola Huete and paintings/lithographs by Carmen Gallegos. These images converse with the poems, adding another layer of meaning. A foreword by Maria Antònia Massanet offers a scholarly yet warm introduction, guiding readers through the collection’s main ideas.
Key Themes
Feminist Vindication
The work loudly asserts that women’s voices matter at every age. It challenges stereotypes that sideline older women, showing them as active, creative, and influential.
Sexuality and the Body
Several poems openly discuss desire and the female body, topics often considered taboo for women over seventy. Lines like “Round, with a small nipple, / cleaved with the desire of a bird to devour them, / the figs.” reclaim sensuality as a lifelong right.
Aging with Vitality
Instead of portraying old age as decline, the poets present it as a stage full of projects, dreams, and rebellious spirit. They argue that age fuels, rather than hinders, artistic vigor.
Time, Loss, and Hope
The collection also touches on illness, war, death, and the passage of time. Yet even in these darker moments, the poets find threads of hope and continuity.
Sample Passage
We have always known
that we were amphoras
carrying wine with honey
for the mystical meal
where we must all drink.
This excerpt from the closing poem “Toast” captures the book’s central metaphor: each woman is a vessel holding sweet experiences to share with the world.
Conclusion
“Brindis” is more than a poetry book; it is a statement that life’s later chapters can be rich, expressive, and empowering. By intertwining their voices, integrating visual art, and using the tree as a living metaphor, Secall and Cardona invite readers of all ages—especially teens—to see aging not as an endpoint but as a continued journey of creation, love, and resistance. The collection encourages young people to value the wisdom of their elders and to recognize that creativity knows no age limit.
Images Credit: www.menorca.info