Carme Riera

Carme Riera, Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, made her literary début in 1975 with Te deix, amor, la mar com a penyora (I Leave You, My Love, the Sea as My Pledge). Among her novels, highlights include Dins el darrer blau (In the Last Twilight) (1994), which received the Josep Pla, National Narrative, Crexells and Lletra d’Or Prizes, as well as the Vittorini Prize for the Best Foreign Novel Published in Italy in 2000; Cap al cel obert (Towards the Open Sky) (2000, Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize); La meitat de l’ànima (Half of the Soul) (2003, Sant Jordi Prize); L’estiu de l’anglès (The Summer of the Englishman) (2006); Natura quasi morta (Life Almost Still) (2011); Temps d’innocència (A Time of Innocence) (2013); Les darreres paraules (Last Words) (2016 BBVA Sant Joan Prize), which was adapted for both stage and opera; Venjaré la teva mort (I Will Avenge Your Death) (2018) and Una ombra blanca (A White Shadow) (2024). As an essayist, she has published La Escuela de Barcelona (The Barcelona School) (1988) and Carmen Balcells, traficant de paraules (Carmen Balcells, Words Trafficker) (2022). She is also the author of the short story collections Epitel·lis tendríssims (Exceedingly Tender Epithalamia) (1981) and Contra l’amor en companyia (Against Love in Company) (1981), the maternity diary Temps d’una espera (Waiting Time) (1998), the literary memoir Gràcies (Thank You) (2025) and the stories La veu de la sirena (The Voice of the Siren) (2015) and La pau dels somnis feliços (The Peace of Happy Dreams) (2022). Her work has been translated into numerous languages. In recognition of her dual role as writer and academic, she was awarded the National Culture Prize in 2001 and the National Literature Prize in 2015. She became a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Letters of Barcelona in 2002 and of the Royal Spanish Academy in 2012.