2023 Edition - Montserrat Roig & Carme Montoriol Grants

MONTSERRAT ROIG GRANT

 

SPRING PHASE

 

Lolita Bosch (Barcelona, 1970). She writes literature, does journalism and is an activist. She directs the Lolita Campus: a research centre for literary thought and creation that shelters and consolidates all her creative and intervention interests, with a team of 17 people. She also writes opinion, philosophy, conflict journalism and social analysis. She has lived in Albons (Girona), the United States, India, Nicaragua, one year in Oaxaca and many in DF, Mexico –a country she has considered her home for many years. She has also spent long seasons and travelled to many places around the world, and always looks to establish bridges between cultures. She also looks for meeting points between disciplines and generations. She has a very special bond with Latin America, the United States and India. She has a doctorate in philosophy.

 

Anna Miracle Fandos (Barcelona, 1979). She is a journalist and writer specialising in social and environmental issues. She has worked for various national and local media and is currently engaged in graphic journalism through comics, illustrated books and illustration for the press. She is the author of Benvingut, Nou Món published by Zahorí Books (2021), El club de la lluita per la igualtat published by the Department of Equality and Feminism of the Generalitat de Catalunya (expected publication date July 2023) and Barcelona, un nou món published by Zahorí Books (expected publication date September 2023). In 2016 she founded, together with the illustrator David Acevedo, DAQ, an illustration studio born with the illusion and conviction that visual communication can be generated from reflection and with social commitment.

Some of her outstanding clients are The New Yorker, The Washington Post, Wired, Politico, Frankfurter Allgemeine, Die Zeit, El País, Diari Ara, among others. She combines professional activity with teaching and is co-director of the master's programs in the field of illustration at the Barcelona School of Arts and Design, Labasad.

 

Clara V. Fleck (Barcelona, 1981). She is an editor, screenwriter, director, writer and mother. Her career has pivoted between the cultural, educational and social axes, which she considers inseparable. She has directed the literature department of the publishing house Cruïlla, the educational innovation department of Grupo SM Educamos, the strategic lines of the Vicki Bernadet Foundation or the self-production department of the OnPost production company.

She has published more than a hundred titles, which include illustrated albums, educational books, novels, films, documentaries and animated series. Her work has been translated into English, Spanish, French, Korean, Japanese and Turkish.

She is currently completing the book L’Antagonista, which will soon be published in the catalogue of the publishing house L’Altra, and also directs Narrativa Fértil, a cooperative that offers autobiographical writing courses to survivors of traumatic experiences.

 

Laura Gonzalvo (Mataró, 1978). With an interdisciplinary background that ranges from humanities to marketing, through children's and youth literature and publishing, her career has always been linked to the word. She has worked as a storyteller, editorial assistant, desk editor, editor, communications manager and marketing director. She has coordinated publishing and business projects. She has written, edited, organised, edited and implemented content, marketing plans and communication strategies. And she has always done so by translating the emotion and meaning of each project into words, explaining the story behind it. In 2022, she won the XI Carlemany Award for her first novel, La llista de les coses impossibles (Columna, May 2022). She has published some of her stories in Cavall Fort magazine and collaborates with the literature and cinema webpage L'Escriba.

Photo: David Gonzalvo

 

Xavier Lluís Chavarria (Tortosa, 1993). He has a degree in Information and Documentation from the Universitat de Barcelona. Writer, librarian and documentarian. He has written Les vides exceptionales dels passagers (Balèria, 2020, winner of the III Vila de Porreres Narrative Award). His narratives have also been recognised in several literary awards from all over the country. Highlights include the Imagina un Amor Award, organised by the Association of Writers in the Catalan Language, and which he has been awarded twice, the Llibres Ebrencs de Móra d’Ebre Award, the Bolleré de Blanes Award or the Solstici de Taradell Award, among others. He has also collaborated in the narrative section of Revista Morlanda.

He is currently working on his second book. Since 2021, he lives and works in Frankfurt, Germany.

 

Albert Pijuan Hereu (Calafell, 1985). Writer, playwright and translator. Graduated in Philosophy and Political Sciences. He has published the novels El Franctirador and Tsunami (Pin i Soler Award for Novel, National Narrative Critique Award, Finestres Award), the book of stories Seguiràs el ritme del fantasma jamaicà, as well as multiple stories in various magazines and anthologies, such as Contes per al (des)confinement or Visions del purgatori, the essay Ramon Llull. Ara i aquí, and has premiered and published theatre pieces such as Nix tu, Simona, Tabula Brasa (Ciutat de Sagunt Award), Escola de gossos, Apocalypse Uploaded, Els reis de Shakespeare escriuen el discurs de Phillipe the Sixth or El regne de les anguiles. He has translated authors such as Dalton Trumbo, Lara Williams, H. G. Wells and Evelyn Waugh. His most recent publication is the essay Per què no repensem el canibalisme?

Photo: Laura Gálvez-Rhein

 

Marta Rebón Rodríguez. She is a writer and literary translator. She studied Slavic Philology and Humanities in Barcelona, Warsaw, Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Beersheba. She is currently a columnist for La Vanguardia and a literary critic for the cultural supplement La Lectura.

She has published the essays En la ciudad líquida (Caballo de Troya, 2017) and El complejo de Caín (Destino, 2022).

 

Patrícia Soley-Beltran (Barcelona 1962). She holds a PhD in Gender Sociology (University of Edinburgh, 2001) and a BA in Cultural History (University of Aberdeen, 1995). She has taught at several universities and is the author of scientific publications and the books: Transexualidad y la matriz heterosexual. Un estudio crítico de Judith Butler (Bellaterra 2009) i Judith Butler en disputa. Lecturas desde la performatividad (main ed., Egales 2012).

She has won the 43^rd Anagrama Essay Award for ¡Divinas! Modelos, poder y mentiras (Anagrama, 2015) and the 1^st María Luz Morales Journalism Award with a gender perspective for the article "Política eres tú" (El País, 2016). She has obtained the 1^st 420 Characters for Equality Relations Award from the Institut Català de les Dones (2012) and the 21^st Puig de Missa Poetry Award (2017, Santa Eulària des Riu, Ibiza).

She has published in La Vanguardia, Diario de Ibiza, La Marea, and YoDona. She has written short stories in her column Fieras Divinas (El País). Her short story "La bien hablada" is part of the compilation Tiempos Negros (Siruela, 2017). She is a translator of Judith Butler and Martha Nussbaum, among others.

 

Adrià Targa (Tarragona, 1987). He graduated in classical philology at the University of Barcelona. He has published several books of poetry and won some of the most prestigious prizes in the country (Gabriel Ferrater Award in Sant Cugat, Vicent Andrés Estellés Prize in Burjassot). His latest work is Canviar de cel (Godall Edicions, 2021). He has also collaborated with his articles for magazines such as La Lectora and has published some literary translations, always of poetry.

 

Brigitte Vasallo (Barcelona, 1973). She is the daughter of Galician farmer women expelled from the countryside. Without a university degree, she has worked as a cleaner, waitress, journalist, sailor... Currently, she is dedicated to writing and research, focusing on the mechanisms of belonging and alterity, with a special interest in sexual difference and the rural diaspora. She has published PornoBurka (2013), Pensamiento Monógamo, Terror Poliamoroso (2017) and Lenguaje inclusivo y Exclusión de Clase (2021), all of them with multiple international editions.

As a dramatist, she premiered the piece Un cos (possible) i lesbià with the visual artist Alba G. Corral and Drama en tres laments i un parell d’actes, the first part of the Naxos Trilogy. She teaches at the Master's in Gender and Communication and at the Postgraduate Course in Peace Culture at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, and at the LAP - Laboratori d’Art i Pensament del Museu Es Baluard in Palma.

Photo: Alba Garcia Fijo

  

AUTUMN PHASE

 

Júlia Bacardit (Barcelona, 1991). She is a journalist and writer and has worked in the Catalan publishing sector. She graduated in Humanities at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. She has collaborated with various media such as the digital cultural magazine Núvol and has co-founded two projects: Revista Branca, of literary and graphic creation, and the Catalan podcast Les Golfes, with Anna Pazos.

In 2020, she published El preu de ser mare, a journalistic essay that deals with the market for buying and selling ovules. Three years later, in 2023, she published her second work: Un dietari sentimental, a book that explains and reflects in the first person on some of her intimate experiences, but at the same time also on literature, journalism and life in Barcelona. She currently lives in Bucharest and is a correspondent for the EFE news agency.

Photo: Laia Serch 

 

Roser Bastida (Gavà, 1989). She is the author of the poetry books Fauna Autòctona. Poemes d'Ullapool (Documents Documenta), finalist in the Art Jove poetry contest Salvador Iborra 2020, and Ballant amb l'heura (Témenos Edicions), first prize for Jove Niu in Poetic Art 2014.

She was one of the editors of issue 5 of the literary and graphic magazine Branca, and in 2022 she co-curated the exhibition “L’ull de veure aparicions”, on poetic creation, at the Fundació Brossa.

 

Leonor Courtoisie (Uruguai, 1990). Performing artist, actress and writer. She works with hybrid languages to reflect on the political power of the impossible, its genealogy and different ways of understanding landscapes and cities. Director and playwright of Estudio para La mujer desnuda 8Comedia Nacional, Montevideo, 2022), and Casi sin pedir permiso (Montevideo, 2019).

Her work Duermen a la hora de la siesta won the National Literature Award of Uruguay in 2019. She received the Molière Award from the French Embassy in Uruguay and was a resident in the Matadero CIAV in Madrid, the LCT Directors Lab in New York and the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris. She published the dramatic work Corte de obsidiana, 2017, the poetry collection Todas esas cosas siguen vivas, 2020, and the novel Irse yendo, 2021.

 

Helena Guilera Recoder (Barcelona, 1993). She studied piano performance at the Conservatori del Liceu and literary theory at the Universitat de Barcelona.

She has worked as a literary agent in the United Kingdom and is currently a publisher. She has published stories in the magazines Branca and Sol Ixent, and has collaborated in the magazines Visat del PEN Català and La Lectora. L’escuma (Periscopi, 2022) is her first novel.

 

Sònia Hernández Hernández (Terrassa, 1976). She is a doctor in Hispanic Philology, journalist, writer and cultural manager. She is the author of the poetry collections La casa del mar (2006), Los nombres del tiempo (2010), La quietud de metal (2018) and Del tot inacabat (2018); in narrative, she published the short story books Los enfermos erróneos (2008), La propagación del silencio (2013) and Maneras de irse (2021), and in she is the author of the novels La mujer de Rapallo (2010), Los Pissimboni (2015), El hombre que se creía Vicente Rojo (2017) and El lugar de la espera (2019). Some of her works have been translated into English, Swedish and Portuguese.

She has collaborated in several magazines and publications, such as Cultura|s, the literary supplement of La Vanguardia, Ínsula, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos or Letras Libres.

 

Jordi de Miguel Capell (Barcelona, 1980). He is a journalist. Collaborator of Crític, he has also published in media such as Públic, Ara, Altaïr Magazine and Directa, among others. Interested in literary journalism and memory, his articles range from journalistic profile to reportage and review, and also the travel chronicle. In 2019, he premieres in the world of graphic novels, with the adaptation of Orwell's Homenatge a Catalunya (Debate/Rosa dels Vents). Recently, he has written the script for the journalistic comic strip 'Històries de la Model' (Barcelona City Council, 2022). As a member of the Collective of Journalists Contrast, he has produced the documentary Les llavors de Berta Cácere and the webdocs {Des}oblidar Armènia and L’antídot de la soledat (Montserrat Roig Award 2018).

 

Eduard Olesti Muñoz (Barcelona, 1995). He is a writer. He has studied Hispanic Philology (UB) and two years of Direction and Dramaturgy (Institut del Teatre). Winner of the 2022 Amadeu Oller Award, with the poetry collection Sarcop. Curator of the Sala d'Art Jove with the col·lectiu bord. Co-founder of the company Trashèdia AP-7, winner of the DespertaLab 2022 grant, resident artistic group at Nau Ivanow. Playwright of Hit Me Fascism One More Time (in residence at the Replika Theatre in Bucharest), Rentadora, gira mundial (Nau Ivanow), No tenim ni idea de què és el teatr (FAT), Congrés de l’Acomodació (Escena Poble Festival Nou), El recel dels núvols (Premi Ses Salines) and Una fruita estranya (Roca Umbert). He has written for magazines such as Ventall, Branca, The posttraumatic or Khaleido.

Photo: Aina Canyelles

 

Joan Safont Plumed (Mataró, 1984). Journalist and writer. Degree in Law, master's degree in Advanced Journalism and Reportage and doctorate from the Universitat de Girona. Professor-collaborator at the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC).

Cultural columnist at VilaWeb, he has coordinated ElNacional.cat's La Llança supplement and has collaborated in various media, such as the Ara newspaper and magazines such as Crític, Valors, Revista de Catalunya or L'Avenç. He has also participated in the talk show Més324, of Televisió de Catalunya.

Author of several books –Per França i Anglaterra. La Primera Guerra Mundial dels aliadòfils catalans, Sabotatge contra Franco. Episodis d’oposició dels que havien guanyat la guerra or Greuges i desgreuges. El debat Catalunya-Espanya a la premsa del primer catalanisme a l’actualitat–, his research has specialised in the culture, politics and journalism of the 19^th and 20^th centuries.

 

 

Marta Soldado Fernández (1989). She studied History and Comparative Literature and is currently a secondary school teacher of Language and Literature and Philosophy in Barcelona. She has published the work of fiction La felicitat d’un pollastre a l’ast (L'Altra Editorial, 2018), the essay chapter "The Angel of Nostalgia Trapped Between East and West" in the collective book Reinventing Eastern Europe: Imaginaries, Identities and Transformations (2019) and the literary chronicle "El cap i la cua del drac" (Comanegra, 2022). She has been awarded grants for literary creation such as Barcelona Crea, the UNESCO Cities of Literature writers' residence in Krakow and the Faber Llull Olot writers' residence.

Cities and their imaginaries, feminist studies and cinematographic fiction, critical animal studies and coordinate problems make up a large part of her literary and life journey.

 

Elaine Vilar Madruga (l’Havana, 1989). She is a narrator, poet and playwright. Degree in Theatre Art from the Institut Superior d'Art (ISA) and teacher of creative writing. Winner of several national and international awards. She has published more than fifty books in publishing houses in the United States, Canada, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Chile, France, Italy and Mexico.

Her novel La tiranía de las moscas (Barrett, 2021), winner of the Cálamo Award for Best Book of the Year 2021 and nominated for the Finestres Award, has been successfully marketed in Spain, Argentina and Brazil, and its translation into Italian and Russian is being prepared. Recently, the English rights to the novel have been acquired by the prestigious publisher HarperCollins.

She is considered one of the most important young voices in literary Cuba today.

A woman, a tree and a climbing picualas plant. The flies talk to her at night and dictate poems to her.

Photo: Mauro Cantillo 

 

 

CARME MONTORIOL GRANT

 

Víctor Borràs Gasch. He has a degree in Dramatic Art (1999) and a post-graduate degree in Theater Pedagogy (2010) at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona.

He has spent his entire professional career within the Teatre Nu project, first as an actor and since 2006 as a director and playwright of the company's shows. He has recently written plays such as No ens tornerem a veure (2020), La dona del tercer segona (2021) or Els ossos de l’Irlandès, awarded with the Quim Masó award and the Frederic Roda award (2022).

Since 2015, he has promoted the La Casa del Teatre Nu project, a space for creating, exhibiting and training of the performing arts. He has also made numerous theatrical productions with groups at risk of social exclusion.

This year 2023 he published Laura on the moon, his first novel.

 

Alba Collado (1998). She has studied Direction and Dramaturgy at the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona and Philosophy at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. In the professional field, she has co-directed Peixos al Foc (Centre de les Arts Lliures, 2021) and La carta de joc que tinc al pansament (Centre de les Arts Lliures, 2023). As a solo director, she has worked on Un Cos que Dol (Parc Sandaru, 2023), Lizzie, el musical (Estruch, 2021), Pornoburka (Institut del Teatre, 2022) and Una família normal by Marta Buchaca (Estruch, 2019). As a playwright, she has written two dramatic works: Fanàtics (2020) and Jo, Judit, Juditha (2021); the second was directed by herself within the framework of the Institut del Teatre (2022). Currently, she is working as a playwright and co-director of the creative musical Bacants, which will premiere next season at the Fundació Joan Brossa.

 

Helena Tornero. Author, theatre director and translator. Graduated in Tourism from the Universitat de Girona and in Directing and Dramaturgy from the ESAD from the Institut del Teatre de Barcelona.

In theatre, she has written, among others: Submergir-se en l'aigua (SGAE Award 2007), Suplicants (2008), Apatxes (14 d’Abril Award 2009), No parlis amb estranys (2013), Fascinación (Lope de Vega Award 2015), El Futur (2019), Demà (2020), Nosaltres (TNC 2021) and Paraíso Perdido (2022). She has also written opera librettos, such as Je suis Narcissiste (2019) with music by Raquel García-Tomás and direction by Marta Pazos (an opera awarded with an Alícia Award from the Acadèmia Catalana de la Música, finalist in the Max Awards and at the International Opera Awards). Founding member of PARAMYTHÀDES and the recent ACD (Associació Catalana de Dramatúrgia). She is currently part of the ESAD management team as Head of the Specialisation in Direction and Dramaturgy.

Paraíso Perdido, her dramaturgical adaptation of the poem Paradise Lost, by Milton, premiered in the Grec Festival 2022 under the direction of Andrés Lima, and it is currently on tour. It will premiere very soon at the CDN in Madrid.

 

Carla Rovira. Graduated in Interpretation from the Institut del Teatre. In 2015, she premiered Most of all, you've got to hide it from the chicks, winner of the Aplaudiment a la Creació Emergent 2016 of the FAD Sebastià Gasch Award. In 2016, she presents While the Machine keeps on running. In 2017, she premiered the show Aüc, el So de les Esquerdes with the company Les Impuxibles and MÀTRIA, awarded with the L’Apuntador 2017 Award from Núvol Magazine. In 2018, she premiered Calla, Hamlet, calla, and in 2019, she co-created La Defensa Alien by Jordi Duran at the Temporada Alta festival, and also premiered Amansi(pa)ment de les Fúries together with the company Parking Shakespeare and Posar el meu Cor en una Safata. In 2020, she directed Jo encara no somio en gent amb mascareta, ERAM's TFG. And in 2022, she released Exit through the gift shop and won the XII Catalan Dramaturgy Tournament with the script El Canvi.