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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Josep Maria de SAGARRA
(Barcelona, 1894 – 1961)
Writer, poet, playwright, and translator. From the stately house on Carrer Mercaders, to the Ateneu, where he formed part of the Great Club of intellectuals, he discovered the good life of the city's restaurants and terraces and the atmosphere on Paral·lel, which he captured very effectively in his Memoirs. His novel Private Life, published in 1932 –winner of the Premi Crexells prize– made an uncompromising account of the upper and lower classes of Barcelona. It was translated into English by Mary Ann Newman and published for the first time in 2015. Translator of the works of Shakespeare and Dant, she is also author of popular works of theatre such as El cafè de la Marina, satire poetry books, and the long narrative poem El comte Arnau.
Robert SALADRIGAS
(Barcelona, 1940)
Narrator and literary critic. In La mar no està mai sola (1996) –winner of the Premi Carlemany prize–set in a clinic in Barcelona, it portrays the final days of a terminal illness and reflects on literature and the human condition. Also in Còmplices de la ciutat, he depicts the city's plazas through the eyes of the characters' psychology, one of his weaknesses given that in L'estiu de la pluja (1999) we encounter a description of Sant Felip Neri.
Martí SALES
(Barcelona, 1979)
Writer, translator, and musician. He first became known for his collection of poetry books, Huckleberry Finn, the birth of a world, of his life, and the city of Barcelona. Through vanguard tradition and his sharp way with words, he creates totally new images. He also writes prose such as El principi d’incertesa and Dies feliços a la presó, which make continuous reference to the city. He forms part of the generation of poets who set up a literary group, Tucson, at a venue between Abecederia market and Carrer Còrsega.
Joan SALVAT-PAPASSEIT
(Barcelona, 1894 – 1924)
A poet of the vanguard movement. He grew up in Sants and lived in the districts of Barceloneta and the Eixample. His main contact with literature was through the Catalan Encyclopaedia, Ateneu Enciclopèdic Català, and a group of second hand book sellers from Santa Madrona. He wrote a significant part of Óssa menor on Carrer Can Pujolet in the district of Horta. As well as love and eroticism, the sea and the port of Barcelona are the focus of his work. There is a sculpture of him at Moll de la Fusta.
Albert SÁNCHEZ PIÑOL
(Barcelona, 1965)
Writer and anthropologist. One of the most popular authors of Catalan literature, with the most translated work. Following his deviations into the adventure genre with Cold Skin and Pandora in the Congo, he wrote the history novel Victus (2012), set in the Barcelona of the War of the Succession, and written in Spanish. Much of this work is set in the district of the Born and describes the siege that occurred there in 1714. In 2015, he published the second part Vae Victus, which tells the story of the fall of Barcelona on 12 Setembre 1714 and explores part of the eighteenth century Bourbon period in the city.
Care SANTOS
(Mataró, 1970)
Writer. She is one of the most widely read authors in the country with some fifty books aimed at both young readers and adults. Winner of more than a dozen awards, she won the 2017 Nadal Award for her work Media vida, the 2014 Ramon Llull Award for her story across the generations of three women, and Desre for Chocolate set in the eighteenth, nineteenth, and twentieth century Barcelona. She also makes reference to the city in Closed Rooms, another of the author’s bestsellers translated into over fifteen languages, in which she portrays the transformation of one of the most important family sagas of nineteenth century Barcelona up to the Second Republic.
Domingo SARMIENTO
(San Juan, 1811 - Asunción, 1888)
Writer, journalist and politician. Considered one of the great masters of prose in the Spanish language, he was also an innovator in educational methods in reading. In the middle of the nineteenth century, he travelled through Africa, Europe and America, including Barcelona, a city he admired and about which he wrote a few lines.
Màrius SERRA
(Barcelona, 1963)
Writer, translator, riddler, and journalist. He lives in the district of Horta. His life is based on philology. In his book Farce (2006) –winner of the Ramon Llull Prize– he tells the story of Barcelona during the time of the Fòrum 2004, through his characteristic style of riddles and farces to mimic society at the beginning of the twenty-first century featuring immigration and identity as key aspects.
Jordi SIERRA i FABRA
(Barcelona, 1947)
Spanish language writer. He is one of the most widely read writers with one of the most published work in the Spanish language. He has written over 400 children's and young people’s books which have been translated into 25 languages. He is one of the city’s ambassadors through the foundations he has set up in Barcelona and Medellín aimed at helping young writers start their literary careers and promoting reading. In 2015, he received the City of Barcelona Medal of Honour.
Carles SOLDEVILA
(Barcelona, 1892 – 1967)
Playwright, poet, journalist of the noucentisme movement. He tended to modernize and reform culture in Barcelona, so his work is always highly focused on the city. His most prominent work includes Històries barcelonines, L’art d’ensenyar Barcelona and the collection of articles extracted from the magazine D’Ací i d’Allà, in which he often wrote about emblematic places in the city: the transformation of Plaça Catalunya, or the importance of monuments dedicated to writers situated in different places around the city.