Writers and Barcelona
Barcelona has been and keeps being a perfect scene for literary works, a source of inspiration for writers who were born here and a welcoming place for writers from around the world who have described it in their books.
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Empar MOLINER
(Santa Eulàlia de Ronçana, 1966)
His literature is characterized by a sense of humour and a critical vision of society. An experimental and acute story writer, his work I love you when I’m drunk is his most international collection of stories. In 2015, he won the Mercè Rodoreda Literature Award for his work Tot això ho faig perquè tinc molta por.
Jesús MONCADA
(Mequinenza, 1941 - Barcelona, 2005)
Writer. He is considered one of the most important writers of his time. He won the ciy’s most prestigious literary awards, such as the Crexells Prize (1988 and 1997) and the City of Barcelona Award (1989). He met Pere Calders through the Montaner i Simonque publishing house, and he used to be one of his teachers. In Barcelona he also has contact with “Tísner” and Xavier Benguerel. The city inspires him to recreate the real and fantasy world of the town of Mequinensa. He is the García-Márquez of the Terres de l’Ebre area of Catalonia.
Dolors MONSERDÀ
(1845 – 1919)
Writer, playwright, and translator. She translated Shakespeare’s sonnets and wrote several theatre productions which premiered at the Teatre Novedades and at the Poliorama to help invigorate the theatre scene at the time. She also writes narratives, such as Diumenge de juliol, in which she evokes life in 1936 with the Rambles and horses and carts as the backdrop to her stories.
Henry de MONTHERLANT
(Paris, 1895 – 1972)
A French writer obsessed with bulls, Rome, and suicide. During his time in Barcelona, he wrote Le petite enfant de Castille, published in 1929, in which he states: “Barcelona is a city of 600,200 souls and only one public toilet”, but beyond the fifth district, he also marvelled at the city’s pragmatism, “When you get tired of Castilla and Andalusia, you can come to Barcelona to breathe. A city that is not always obstinate”.
Quim MONZÓ
(1952)
Catalan writer, author of short stories, novels, and columnist. He is one of the most renowned figures of contemporary Catalan literature. His first novel, L’udol del griso al caire de les clavegueres, published in 1976, is set in the Rambla and the district of La Ribera. The city is the focal point and sets the scene for the majority of his stories, such as El perquè de tot plegat (1993). Barcelona Cathedral features in La força de la voluntat, while in Cacofonia the main character attempts to drive along one-way street Carrer Balmes the wrong way. The collection of stories L’illa de maians (1985) is set in front of Santa Maria del Mar, at the time when the island was still covered with water. He currently lives between the district of Poble Sec and the Eixample.
Víctor MORA
(1931 – Barcelona, 2016)
Writer, translator, and comic scriptwriter. Creator of Captain Thunder, he is one of the leading figures of literary realism next to Joaquim Carbó or Josep Maria Espinàs. His first novel Els plàtans de Barcelona had to be published in French because of the 1966 Franco censorship It is a film-like portrayal of post-war Barcelona and forms part of the trilogy along with París flach-back and “El tramvia blau”.
Paul MORAND
(Paris, 1888 – 1976)
Diplomat and French poet. At the forefront of modernism, he was able to travel around the world. During one of his trips he captured the essence of the so-called Tragic Week in Barcelona to write his short novel La nuit catalane [Catalan Night] in Ouvert la nuit [Open all Night] published in 1922. In 1911 he landed in the city for the first time and learnt Spanish. Throughout his life he returned to Barcelona on several occasions and enjoyed going to watch the bullfights.
Xavier MORET
(1952)
Journalist and writer specialized in travel books, he also wrote a couple of novels set in Barcelona: “Qui paga, mana” (1997) is centred in the Plaça Reial in post-Olympic times, while “Zanzíbar pot esperar” (2002) portrays the Barcelona of squatters, Nazis, and alternative worlds.
Teresa MUÑOZ
(Barcelona, 1974)
Writer, publisher, tranlator and teacher of Creative Writing at the University of Lleida. She is author of the novels Com si fos ahir (2014) and Des del balcó (2017), where she portraits the post-war Barcelona, especially the Gothic quarter of the city.