Uxío Novoneyra

Uxío Novoneyra was born on 19 January 1930 in Parada do Courel. He completed his secondary education in Lugo before moving to Madrid to study Arts and Philosophysofía y Letras). He began writing at the age of eighteen, and at twenty-five published the first edition of Os Eidos, a watershed work in 20th-century Galician literature. Throughout his life, Novoneyra would continue adding new poems to this foundational volume of contemporary Galician writing.

Between 1962 and 1966, he worked at Spanish National Radio and Television (RTVE), directing cultural programmes dedicated to the dissemination of poetry. Deeply influenced by medieval troubadour lyricism and the avant-garde, he engaged extensively with both oral poetry and visual poetry through calligrams. His poetry readings were celebrated cultural events, while his work as a calligrapher explored the tangible, physical weight of the written word—which he continually revised and refined across successive editions.

In the 1980s, by then acclaimed by critics and audiences alike as a modern classic, he compiled his oeuvre across three landmark collections: poems of the land in Os Eidos. Libro do Courel (1981), love poems in Muller pra lonxe (1986), and his political poetry in Do Courel a Compostela (1988).

In 1983, Novoneyra moved to Santiago de Compostela with his wife, Elba Rey, and their children, Branca, Uxío, and Arturo. From 1983 until 1999, he served as President of the Association of Galician-Language Writers (AELG), tirelessly championing the Galician language and culture until his death at age 69 on 30 October 1999 in the Galician capital.

Just days before his passing, his final book was published: Ámeto mítico. Arrodeos e desvíos do Camiño de Santiago e outras rotas, a journey through the landscapes, language, and collective memory of Galicia. This final volume capped an avant-garde body of work deeply committed to the spirit of the land, the fight against oppression, and the raw existential reality of love against mortality.