Abel Montagut

Jesús Abel Montagut i Masip (Catalan pronunciation: [ʒəˈzuz əˈβɛl muntəˈɣut i məˈsip]; born 1953 in Llardecans, commonly known as Abel Montagut, is a Catalan translator and author of both Catalan and Esperanto. Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto informs us that Montagut studied Romance Philology and also learnt Esperanto. He taught Catalan language and literature as a secondary-school teacher alongside writing in Catalan and in Esperanto. His works have “appeared in the periodicals Esperanto, Literatura Foiro, Fonto, La Gazeto, Kataluna Esperantisto and others [and] he has twice been honored for his stories in Catalan literary competitions.” In 1993 he published Poemo de Utnoa, an epic inspired by various works including: Epic of Gilgamesh, Ramayana, The Bible, Iliad, The Odyssey, Aeneid, etc. According to the Concise Encyclopedia of the Original Literature of Esperanto “Montagut’s epic Poemo de Utnoa [Utnoa’s Poem], consisting of seven cantos in over 7,000 lines, was called by William Auld : “The first truly remarcable epic science-fiction poem in the world, and one of the very few modern epics.”