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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Sílvia SOLER
(Figueres, 1961)
Novelist and regular collaborator in different media, Sílvia Soler has been awarded with the Prudenci Bertrana Prize in 2008 with Petons de diumenge and the Premi Ramon Llull 2013 with L'estiu que comença. Some of her novels have been translated into english, japanese, polish and portuguese.
Sebastià SORRIBAS
(Barcelona, 1928 - 2007)
Writer. He was born in China town district V, where he returned at the end of the war, and which considerably influenced his writing. In 2007 and 2008 he wrote Amb X de Xino” and Barri xino: una crònica de postguerra, transporting us to one of the darkest districts of post-war Barcelona but from a very human perspective. He met with success with his books for children and young people with the famous El zoo d’en Pitus (1966) also inspired in Barcelona’s Raval district.
Jaume SUBIRANA
(Barcelona, 1963)
Writer of prose and verse. He was awarded the most prestigious poetry awards in 1998, the Carles Riba Prize, and in 2015 el Gabriel Ferrater-Sant Cugat Prize. He is a lecturer in Catalan Literature at the Open University of Catalonia. His poetry is always focused on the city. In 2013, he wrote BarcelonABC Alfabet d’una ciutat a guide and literary immersion into the city.
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Rafel TASIS
(Barcelona, 1906 – París 1966)
Writer, poet, and bookseller. He published his first novel Vint anys (1931) as a testimony to the life in Barcelona at the time. He adored the city and its hidden corners, especially the clubs. He was a pioneer in the detective genre with La Bíblia valenciana (1955), considered the first Catalan crime novel, set in the Gothic quarter. It was followed by Un crim al Paralelo (1960).
Emili TEIXIDOR
(Roda de Ter, 1932 - Barcelona, 2012)
Writer and educator, in 1958 he moved to Barcelona. He is the author ofPa negre (2003), his most renowned novel for which he received the 2003 Joan Crexells Award and the Lletra d'Or and National Culture of Literature awards in 2004. He is also the author of an important work of young people’s literature comprising over thirty books. In 2006, he received the Catalan literature award Trajectòria de la Setmana del Llibre en Català, and in 2011, the Jaume Fuster Award for Catalan language writers. In memory of the author, the publisher Columna has been organizing the Emili Teixidor literary creation grant for young writers since 2013.
Xavier THEROS
(Barcelona, 1963)
Poet and writer. He is one of the great connoisseurs of the city. Between 2004 and 2010 he took part in the project on the collective memory La ruta de l’anarquisme. Many of his books are on research into the human and every day geography of the city’s streets. He won the Josep Pla Novel Prize in 2017 for his work La fada negra, a thriller set in the Barcelona of the year 1843.
Gonzalo TORNÉ
(Barcelona, 1976)
Spanish language writer. In his novels, Hilos de sangre and Divorce is in the Air he explores subjects such as the decadence of the Barcelona bourgeoisie, family relationships, and the end of love.
Maruja TORRES
(Barcelona, 1943)
Writer and journalist. She defines herself as a girl from the Raval district transformed into a Barcelona woman. She was immersed in world conflicts due to her work as a correspondent. Esperadme en el cielo is a journey into the past where she meets her two great friends, Manolo Vázquez Montalbán and Terenci Moix, and the places and experiences they lived through together in the city.
Pablo TUSSET
(Barcelona, 1965)
Writer. In 2001, he rose to success with his first novel The Best Thing that Can Happen to a Croissant. Here he reveals upper class Barcelona through the eyes of a thirty year old.
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Clara USÓN
(Barcelona, 1961)
On 2009, she won the Biblioteca Breve Prize for Corazón de Napalm. On 2013, she won the Spanish Critical Prize for Narrative for the novel La hija del Este, for which she was also awarded the Ciutat de Barcelona Prize and the Mediterranean Culture Prize. She is also the author of Noches de San Juan (1998, Lumen Feminin Prize), El viaje de las palabras (2003), Perseguidoras (2007), Valor (2015) and El asesino tímido (2018).