Carme Riera Guilera (; born 12 January 1948) is a novelist and essayist. She has also written short stories, scripts for radio and television and literary criticism. She holds a doctorate in Hispanic

Philology Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as ...

and is a professor of Spanish literature at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Riera was born in

Palma Palma or La Palma means palm in a number of languages and may also refer to: Geography Africa * Palma, Mozambique, city ** Palma District * La Palma, one of the Canary Islands, Spain ** La Palma (DO), a ''Denominación de Origen'' for wines from ...

. She attended the Sacred Heart primary school and the Joan Alcover Institute in Palma, where she met Majorcan writers and fell in love with a teacher, Francisco Llinás. In 1965 she moved to

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

to study Hispanic Philology in the Department of Philosophy and Letters of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. She graduated in 1970 and the following year married Francisco Llinás and was hired by Manuel Blecua to give classes in the Department. That year her son Ferran was born, and she began her literary career. She writes in

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 ...

and Spanish. Her

self-translation Self-translation is a translation of a source text into a target text by the writer of the source text. Self-translation occurs in various writing situations. Since research on self-translation largely focuses on ''literary'' self-translation, thi ...

s are often published at the same time. She lives in Barcelona. Her best-known work is the historical novel "Dins el darrer blau" (1994), winner of several prizes (see below) and the first novel in Catalan to win the Premio Nacional de Narrativa (National Prize for Narrative), awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture. An English translation by Kathleen McNerney, "Blue Horizons of no Return: Sephardic Journeys", is awaiting publication. Riera was elected to Seat ''n'' of the

Real Academia Española The Royal Spanish Academy ( es, Real Academia Española, generally abbreviated as RAE) is Spain's official royal institution with a mission to ensure the stability of the Spanish language. It is based in Madrid, Spain, and is affiliated with ...

on 19 April 2012, she took up her seat on 7 November 2013.

Influences

The extensive background reader of Carme Riera, consequence of a passionate attitude towards scholarly literature, forms a vast frame of references.

Sappho Sappho (; el, Σαπφώ ''Sapphō'' ; Aeolic Greek ''Psápphō''; c. 630 – c. 570 BC) was an Archaic Greek poet from Eresos or Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. Sappho is known for her Greek lyric, lyric poetry, written to be sung while ...

Petrarch Francesco Petrarca (; 20 July 1304 – 18/19 July 1374), commonly anglicized as Petrarch (), was a scholar and poet of early Renaissance Italy, and one of the earliest humanists. Petrarch's rediscovery of Cicero's letters is often credited ...

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

and

Virginia Woolf Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device. Woolf was born ...

parade through its pages, but also classical Spanish writers, as

Miguel de Cervantes Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 NS) was an Early Modern Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best kno ...

, Clarin,

Carmen Laforet Carmen Laforet ( Barcelona 6 September 1921 – Madrid, 28 February 2004) was a Spanish author who wrote in the period after the Spanish Civil War. An important European writer, her works contributed to the school of Existentialist Literatur ...

, Valle-Inclán, Gil de Biedma ... However, the author has placed the roots of her narrative in Majorcan tales and the work of two crucial writers in the construction of contemporary Catalan narrative:

Caterina Albert Caterina Albert i Paradís (L'Escala, Spain, 11 September 1869 — 27 January 1966), better known by her pen name Víctor Català, was a Catalan writer in Catalan and Spanish who participated in the Modernisme movement and was the author of o ...

and Rodoreda.

Works

* ''Te deix, amor, la mar com a penyora'', 1975 (I Leave You, My Love, The Sea as My Pledge) * ''Je pos per testimoni les gavines'', 1977 * ''Quasi bé un conte, la vida de Ramon Llull'', 1980 * ''Els cementiris de Barcelona''. Barcelona: Edhasa, 1981 (The Cemeteries of Barcelona) * ''Una primavera per a Domenico Guarini''. Barcelona: Montesinos Editor, S.A., 1981 (A Springtime for Domenico Guarini) * ''Epitelis tendríssims''. Barcelona: Edicions 62 S.A., 1981 * “El reportaje”. Short story. In: ''Doce relatos de mujeres''. Navajo, Ymelda (ed.), Madrid: Alianza, 1982, pp. 181–191. Cuentos. * ''Qüestió d'amor propi''. Barcelona: Laia, 1987 * ''La molt exemplar història del Gos Màgic i la seva cua''. Barcelona: Empúries S.A., Editorial, 1988 * ''La escuela de Barcelona''. Barcelona: Anagrama, 1988. Essay. Winner of the XVI Premio Anagrama 1988 (The School of Barcelona) * ''Joc de miralls'', 1989 (Mirror game) * ''La poesía de Carlos Barral''. Barcelona: Edicions 62 S.A., 1990 (The Poetry of Carlos Barral) * ''Hay veneno y Jazmín en tu tinta, aproximación a la,'' 1991 * ''Contra l'amor en conpanyia i altres relats''. Barcelona: Destino, 1991 * ''Dins el darrer blau'', 1994 (Blue Horizons of no Return) * “Princesa meva, lletra d'àngel.” Short Story. In: ''Érase una vez la paz''. Barcelona: Planeta, 1996, pp. 187–193. Cuentos. * ''Quadern d'una espera'', 1998 * “Mon semblable, mon frère”. Short Story. In: ''Barcelona, un día''. Regàs, Rosa (comp.) . Madrid: Alfaguara, 1998, pp. 357–376. Cuentos. * ''Cap al cel obert''. Barcelona: Destino, 2000. Novel. * “Metamorfosis”. Short Story. In: Orosia. Jaca: ''Pirineum Multimedia'', 2002, pp. 147–155. Cuentos. * ''La meitat de l'ánima'', 2003. Novel. Winner of the 2003 Premi Sant Jordi (Half of the Soul)

Awards

* 1980 Prudenci Bertrana Prize for her novel ''Una primavera per a Domenico Guarini'' (A Springtime for Domenico Guarini). * 1989

Ramon Llull Novel Award The Ramon Llull Novel Award ( es, Premio Ramon Llull de novela, links=no; ca, Premi de les Lletres Catalanes Ramon Llull, links=no) is an honor given annually to a novel originally written in Catalan. Conceived in 1981 by editor , it is awarded ...

for her ''Joc de miralls'' (A Play of Mirrors) * 1994

Josep Pla Award The Josep Pla Award ( es, Premio Josep Pla, links=no; ca, Premi Josep Pla, links=no) is a Spanish literary prize, awarded by the Ediciones Destino, Destino publishing house since 1968, to a prose text written in Catalan language, Catalan. It is o ...

for ''Dins el darrer blau'' (In the Last Shade of Blue), a historical novel which also received the Joan Crexells Prize, the Lletra d'Or (Golden Letter) Prize, the Ministry of Culture National Prize for Narrative and the Elio Vittorini Prize from the Syracuse Department of Tourism. * 2000, the Generalitat (Autonomous Government) of Catalonia awarded her the '' Creu de Sant Jordi'' (Cross of Saint George). She is a member of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (Association of

Catalan Language Catalan (; autonym: , ), known in the Valencian Community and Carche as '' Valencian'' (autonym: ), is a Western Romance language. It is the official language of Andorra, and an official language of three autonomous communities in eastern ...

Writers). * 2015 Premio Nacional de las Letras Españolas

References

External links

Carme Riera
at the Association of Catalan Language Writers. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Riera, Carme 1948 births Living people Majorcan writers Writers from Catalonia Spanish women screenwriters Spanish women novelists Spanish essayists Spanish women essayists Members of the Royal Spanish Academy