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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Bernat DESCLOT
(second half of the eighteenth century)
A chronicler, he is author of the book Chronicle of the Reign of King Pedro III of Aragon. Written around 1280, this chronicle by Bernat Desclot is focused on the reigns of James I and the Conqueror, and particularly on his son and successor, Peter the Great (1276-1285).
Jenn DÍAZ
(Barcelona, 1988)
Writer and press contributor. She is author of the books El duelo y la fiesta (2012), Mujer sin hijo (2013), Es un decir (2014), and Mare i Filla (2015). With her collection of books Vida Familiar, she won the Mercè Rodoreda award in 2016.
José DONOSO
(Santiago de Chile, 1925 – 1996)
Writer and journalist. Awarded National Prize in his country in 1990. He was childhood friends with Carlos Fuentes and published his first storybook Veraneo y otros cuentos in 1955. He was part of the so-called boom of Latin American literature, about which he wrote his account Historia personal del boom (1972). Harold Bloom considers him to be one of the key authors in the Western Canon of Literature. He lives exiled in Barcelona, the city where his work Tres novelitas burguesas (1973) is set.
Xènia DYAKONOVA
(Saint Petersburg, 1985)
Poet, translator, and literary critic, she graduated in Theory of Literature and Comparative Literature from the University of Barcelona, and since 2004 she has lectured in humanities and Russian language and literature at the Barcelona School of Writing at L’Ateneu. She translated Catalan work by authors such as Anton Txèkhov, Anna Politkóvskaia, Lev Tolstoi, Varlam Xalàmov and Aleksandr Kúixner and she is author of several poetry books.
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Mathias ÉNARD
(Niort, France, 1972)
Writer and translator, he studies Arabic and Persian at the Institut National des Langues ete Civilisations Orientales (INALCO). He has been based in Barcelona since 2000, and among others, he is author of the work Rue des voleurs (2012) –Carrer Robadors (2013) in its Catalan version by Mercè Ubach– set in the Barcelona of financial crisis and the 15-M demonstrations. He won the 2015 Goncourt Award for his novel Boussole (Brúixola/Brújula in Catalan and Spanish) (2016).
Ramón de ESPAÑA
(Barcelona, 1956)
A writer, journalist, and filmmaker, he is the author of novels such as Nadie es inocente (1999), Calidad de vida (2004) and El millonario comunista (2010), and essays including El canon de los cómics (1996, co-written with Ignasi Vidal-Folch) and El manicomio catalán. Reflexiones de un barcelonés hastiado (2013).
Marina ESPASA
(Barcelona, 1973)
A writer, Roman philologist, and literary critic, she is author of the novels La dona que es va perdre (2012) i El dia del cérvol (2016). She works as a translator, scriptwriter, a presenter for radio and television programmes on books, and is a writing teacher. She is a regular contributor for the newspaper Ara, and has been coordinator since 2016 of the UNESCO City of Literature office.
Josep Maria ESPINÀS
(Barcelona, 1927)
A writer, journalist, and chronicler on the city, Josep Maria Espinàs is the author of an extensive work of narratives, from novels to short narratives and travel chronicles, through to memoirs such as Temps afegit (2001). Among numerous other recognitions, he was winner of the Victor Català award in 1958 for his work Varietés (1959) and of the Sant Jordi award in 1961 for L'últim replà (1962), and in 2002 he was awarded the Catalan Literature Award of Honour.
Albert ESPINOSA
(Barcelona, 1973)
He is a director, actor and scriptwriter for theatre, film, and leading high-audience television programmes thanks to the enormous popularity of the programmes Polseres vermelles, shown on Televisió de Catalunya between 2011 and 2013, of which he was a scriptwriter and creator. He is also the author of books such as El món groc (2008), Tot el que podríem haver estat tu i jo si no fóssim tu i jo (2010) and Si tu em dius vine, ho deixo tot... però digue’m vine (2011), which was the best selling book on Saint George’s Day of the year of its publication.
Salvador ESPRIU
(Santa Coloma de Farners, 1913 – Barcelona, 1985)
Poet, playwright and novelist, he is one of the most renowned Catalan writers of the twentieth century. He started his career as a novelist with work such as El doctor Rip (1931), Laia (1932), Aspectes (1934) and Ariadna al laberint grotesc (1935). His work of poetry, which had an enormous impact, includes pieces such as Cementiri de Sinera (1946), Les hores i Mrs. Death (1952), Final del laberint (1955), Les cançons d'Ariadna (1949) and La pell de brau (1960). In 1972, he received the Catalan Literature Award of Honour.