Bel Olid Báez (born 4 October 1977) is a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

writer, translator, and teacher of language, literature, translation, and creative writing. They have received several literary prizes, among them the 2010 . From 2015 to 2022, they were the president of the

Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana The Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (, "Association of Writers in the Catalan Language", or "Association of Catalan-Language Writers"), also known by the acronym AELC, is a professional organisation of authors, poets, scriptwriters, tra ...

. As of 2024, they are an Assistant Instructional Professor in Catalan and Spanish at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

Biography

Born in

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the ''comarca'' of the Maresme, in the province of Barcelona, Catalonia Autonomous Community, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sa ...

, the child of immigrants from another region of Spain, Bel Olid earned a licentiate in Translation and Interpreting from the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona ( ca, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; , es, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona; UAB), is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. ...

(UAB) in 1999, and has since dedicated themself to the translation of books and films. They have worked as a language and literature teacher since 2005. In 2010, they obtained a master's degree in Language and Literature Didactics. They have translated works into Catalan from English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. They are a member of the Gretel children's and youth literature research group at the UAB. In 2008, Olid published the storybook ''Estela, grita muy fuerte'' to help prevent child abuse, released by the Fineo publishing house for the Rana Association (Help Network for Abused Children) of the Balearic Islands. It received the QWERTY Award for best children's book. In 2010, they published the essay ''Les heroïnes contraataquen: models literaris contra l'universal masculí'', which received the Rovelló Award. In 2011, Olid published their first novel, ''Una terra solitària'', in which they portray Andalusian immigration in Catalonia together with cultural, social, and sexual identity in the background, and in which they also introduce the problem of sexual abuse. In 2012 they published ''La mala reputació'' (Bad Reputation), awarded with the 2013 Roc Boronat de Narrativa. In October 2014, together with the writers

Josep Maria Espinàs Josep Maria Espinàs i Massip (; born 7 March 1927) is a Catalan language writer, journalist and publisher known for his novels, travel writing and newspaper articles. Author of an extensive body of literature, Espinàs has been honored with t ...

and

Albert Sánchez Piñol Albert Sánchez Piñol (; born 11 July 1965) is a Spanish anthropologist, non-fiction writer and novelist writing in Catalan and Spanish. He has been described as a "significant European writer". Theroux, Marcel (19 December 2005)"Cold Skin" ' ...

, they presented the Writers' Manifesto for Independence, signed by more than 300 writers in favor of the

independence of Catalonia The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginnings o ...

. In 2013, Olid was elected president of the (CEATL), and in March 2015 they were elected President of the Association of Writers in Catalan, replacing . They contribute to various Catalan media outlets, including the newspaper ''

Ara ARA may refer to: Media and the arts * American-Romanian Academy of Arts and Sciences * '' Artistička Radna Akcija'', compilation album released in former Yugoslavia * Associate of the Royal Academy, denoting membership in the British Royal Aca ...

'' and the cultural magazines ' and '. For the Catalan autonomous elections of 21 December 2017, Bel Olid participated in the lists of the leftist independence coalition

Popular Unity Candidacy The Popular Unity Candidacy ( ca, Candidatura d'Unitat Popular, , CUP) is a left-wing to far-left pro-Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communiti ...

(CUP) for Barcelona.

Personal life

Olid is a

non-binary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typically ...

person and advocates for the use of

gender-neutral language Gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language is language that avoids bias towards a particular sex or gender. In English, this includes use of nouns that are not gender-specific to refer to roles or professions, formation of phrases in a c ...

in Catalan. Olid uses ''they/them'' pronouns in English and ''elli'' in Catalan.

Works

Books

* ''¡Estela, grita muy fuerte!'' (2008), Editorial Fineo, * ''Les Heroïnes contraataquen'' (2011), * ''Una terra solitària'' (2011), * ''La mala reputació'' (2012), * ''Vents més salvatges'' (2016),

Planeta Group Planeta Corporación, S.R.L., doing business as Grupo Planeta (), is a Spanish mass media conglomerate operating in Spain, Portugal, France and Latin America. It is the world's leading Spanish-language book publisher. Editorial Planeta, founded in ...

, * ''Vides aturades'' (2016), Ara Llibres, * ''Feminisme de butxaca'' (2017), * ''Garbancito'' (2018), Combel Edit, * ''Follem?'' (2019), Bridge, * ''A contrapelo'' (2020), Capitán Swing,

Translations

German to Catalan

Literary awards

* 2009: QWERTY Award from betevé for Best Children's Book for ''Estela, grita muy fuerte'' * 2010: for ''Una terra solitària'' * 2011: Rovelló Award for ''Les heroïnes contraataquen: models literaris contra l'universal masculí'' * 2012: Roc Boronat Award for ''Celobert amb papallones'' (''La mala reputació'')

References

External links

Official blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olid, Bel 1977 births 21st-century Spanish educators 21st-century Spanish novelists 21st-century translators Spanish non-binary people Spanish LGBT novelists Spanish LGBT politicians Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni Novelists from Catalonia Politicians from Catalonia Short story writers from Catalonia Writers from Catalonia Non-binary novelists Non-binary politicians Translators from Catalonia Catalan–Spanish translators English–Catalan translators English–Spanish translators French–Catalan translators French–Spanish translators German–Catalan translators Italian–Catalan translators Italian–Spanish translators Living people People from Mataró