Carme Riera

Writer (Palma, 1948)

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Carme Riera learnt to read and write very late, but when she was a little over twenty years old, pregnant with her first child, she wrote in one sitting, in a single morning, one of the most often read stories in twentieth century Catalan literature. This tender and moving tale, titled Te deix, amor, la mar com a penyora, was the name of the first collection of the author’s stories, published in 1975, which established her as one of the greatest promises in Catalan letters.

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The prediction was fulfilled and since then, Riera’s books have been translated into numerous languages and have won some important prizes: Una primavera per a Domenico Guarini won the Prudenci Bertrana Novel prize in 1980, Joc de miralls won the Ramon Llull in 1989, Dins el darrer blau was awarded the Josep Pla in 1994 and the National Narrative Prize in1995, Cap el cel obert won the Premi Nacional de Literatura of the Generalitat de Catalunya in 2001, La meitat de l’ànima the Sant Jordi in 2003.

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This serene-looking woman confesses to being hyperactive and sleeping very little in order to do everything she wants to do. As well as writing stories, novels, essays and some radio and television scripts, and organising frequent literary conferences and meetings, Riera is also a lecturer in Hispanic Philology at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.