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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René BIZET
(Paris, 1887 – 1947)
A journalist and writer, in 1925 he published the work Avez-vous vu dans Barcelona? focusing on the city and turning it into a key element of the main character’s destiny.
Jaume BOFILL I MATES (Guerau de Liost)
(Olot, 1878 – Barcelona, 1933)
Under the writer's pen name Guerau de Liost, Jaume Bofill i Mates, he published poetry books such as La muntanya d'ametistes (1908), En els somnis (1913) and La ciutat d'Ivori (1918), dedicated to Barcelona. Poet, journalist, and politician, he was a councillor at Barcelona City Council, a member of the Commonwealth of Catalonia, and founder of Acció Catalana.
Roberto BOLAÑO
(Santiago de Chile, 1953 – Barcelona, 2003)
Poet and short story writer, he is one of the most important and influential writers of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first century. He set up in Barcelona in 1977, where he spent three years in an apartment on Carrer Tallers, later settling in Girona, and from 1985 onwards, in Blanes. In 1998, he won the Herralde novel prize for his work The Savage Detectives. Posthumous novel 2666 (2004) is considered his most important work.
Jorge Luis BORGES
(Buenos Aires, 1899 - Geneva 1986)
Writer. One of the all time most prominent Latin American writers of his generation and of Hispanic literature. He spent a period in Barcelona in 1920, and made an account of his impressions of the city - although they were not especially positive - in Cartas del fervor: correspondencia con Maurice Abramowicz y Jacobo Sureda (1919-1928).
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Joan BOSCÀ
(Barcelona, 1488/89 – 1542)
A poet and translator specialized in renaissance work, his contribution to the history of Spanish literature is particularly relevant thanks to his adaptation of Hendecasyllabic verse from Italian poetry into Spanish. A friend of Garcilaso de la Vega, he translated Il cortegiano (1534), by Baldassarre Castiglione. Clearly influenced by Ausiàs March, in his production in Catalan for the poem Esparsa.
Joan BROSSA
(Barcelona, 1919 – 1998)
Poet, playwright, and visual artist, he is author of an extensive and renowned work of poetry that progressed from traditional poetry through to visual and experimental poetry. He was one of the founders of the art group “Dau al set”. The Joan Brossa Foundation in Barcelona has been set up to preserve the work by the author.
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Jaume CABRÉ
(Barcelona, 1947)
Writer and scriptwriter, he is one of the Catalan literature authors of greatest international standing, thanks to the outreach of his novels such as The Voices of Pamano (2004) and Confessions (2011), translated into more than twenty languages. Winner of numerous literary prizes awarded in the city, in 2014, he won the City of Barcelona award for international projection thanks to the success of the translations of his novel Confessions. His work Senyoria (1991) is set in eighteenth century Barcelona.
Maria CABRERA
(Girona, 1983)
Poet and associate professor at the Department of Catalan Philology and General LInguistics of the University of Barcelona, in 2016 she won the Carles Riba poetry award for her work La ciutat cansada. She is also author of the work Jonàs [Jonah] (2004) and La matinada clara[Bright Morning] (2010). In 2011, she participated along with other poets, in the volume Ningú no ens representa. Poetes emprenyats, as part of an initiative by the 15-M Movement demonstration at Barcelona’s Plaça de Catalunya.
Pere CALDERS
(Barcelona, 1912 – 1994)
Exiled in Mexico for twenty-three years, he is author of novels such as L'ombra de l'atzavara (1964, Sant Jordi Award 1963) and La ciutat cansada (recuperated in 2008). Some of his most prominent and well-known stories are included in his collections, such as Chroncles of the Hidden Truth (1955. Víctor Català award 1954), Here Rests Nevares (1967) and Subtle Invasion and Other Stories (1978). In 1986, he received the Catalan Literature Award of Honour.
Agustí CALVET (Gaziel)
(Sant Feliu de Guíxols, 1887 – Barcelona, 1964)
Journalist and writer, he is the director of Barcelona based newspaper La Vanguardia (1920-1936). He excels as a biographer with work such as Tots els camins duen a Roma. Història d'un destí (1958), Història de La Vanguardia (1884-1936) (1971) and Meditacions en el desert (1946-1954) (1974).