Rosa Regàs (born 1933, in Barcelona) is a Spanish writer and novelist. She is a recipient of the Premio Planeta de Novela and the Premio Nadal.

Biography

Rosa Regàs was born in Barcelona in 1933. During the Spanish Civil War she was exiled to France, until it ended when she was 6 years old. She was educated at a religious boarding school in Barcelona. She subsequently obtained a Degree in Philosophy at the University of Barcelona, where she met Spanish poets such as

José Agustín Goytisolo José Agustín Goytisolo Gay (Barcelona, 13 April 1928 – 19 March 1999) was a Spanish poet, scholar and essayist. He was the brother of Juan Goytisolo and Luis Goytisolo, also writers. Biography Born in Barcelona on 13 April 1928, in an upp ...

, Jaime Gil de Biedma and Gabriel Ferraté. Her literary training was consolidated between 1964 and 1970 during her work at the legendary publishing house Seix Barral (now part of Grupo Planeta), with

Carlos Barral Carlos Barral i Agesta (1928–1989) was a Spanish poet, considered (along with Jaime Gil de Biedma) to be one of the greatest poets of the so-called generation of the 1950s. He helped to establish the Formentor Group and their literary awards t ...

. In 1970 she founded the publishing company La Gaya Ciencia and began publishing works by authors who were little known at the time, such as Juan Benet,

Álvaro Pombo Álvaro Pombo García de los Ríos (born 23 June 1939) is a Spanish poet, novelist and activist. Born in Santander, Cantabria, he studied at the Complutense University of Madrid and received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at Birkbeck, Univers ...

, María Zambrano,

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (14 June 1939–18 October 2003) was a prolific Spanish writer from Catalonia: journalist, novelist, poet, essayist, anthologue, prologist, humorist, critic and political prisoner as well as a gastronome and a FC ...

and Javier Marías, amongst many others. After the death of

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ...

, she launched the publishing house's first political collection entitled Biblioteca de Divulgación Política, with most of its authors still underground at the time. She also founded and directed a magazine of thought, ''Cuadernos de la Gaya Ciencia'', and another on architecture, ''

Arquitecturas Bis ''Arquitecturas Bis'' was a Spanish bimonthly architecture magazine which was published in Barcelona, Spain, between 1974 and 1985. Its subtitle was ''información gráfica de actualidad'' (Spanish: ''current graphic information''). History and ...

'', with the collaboration of professionals of the stature of Oriol Bohigas, Óscar Tusquets, and Rafael Moneo. Determined to write, she sold her publishing house in 1983 and began working as a part-time translator and editor for different organisations in the United Nations in several different cities around the world, leaving her more free time to dedicate to literature. In 1987 she accepted a proposal from Carlos Trías, who was then director of the Ciudades collection at Ediciones Destino, to write "Ginebra", an entertaining essay on the severe Calvinist capital of Lake Leman and its peculiar inhabitants. In 1991 she published ''Memoria de Almator'', her first novel, which tells of a woman who is overprotected by her father, her husband and her lover, and ends up taking control of her own life. In 1994 she won the Premio Nadal award for her novel ''Azul'', a story about love and the ocean which opened the door to the general public for Regàs. ''Azul'' was followed by ''Viaje a la luz del Cham'' (1995), a narrative about her time in Syria, and ''Luna Lunera'' (1999), an autobiographical novel set in Barcelona during the post-war times, for which she won the Ciutat de Barcelona Narrative Award. In 2001 Regàs won the 50th edition of the

Premio Planeta The Premio Planeta de Novela is a Spanish literary prize, awarded since 1952 by the Spanish publisher Grupo Planeta to an original unpublished novel written in Spanish. It is one of about 16 literary prizes given by Planeta. Financially, it is the ...

award with her novel of intrigue ''La Canción de Dorotea'', which narrates the discoveries of a molecular biology professor at a country house she inherited from her father. Since then she has published several works, including ''Diario de una abuela de verano'', which was made into a television series of the same title. Since the early nineties Regàs has been regularly collaborating in newspapers and magazines through her articles, and also carries out significant work as a lecturer and activist in human rights solidarity and defence movements. Apart from her literary activity, Regàs has also been director of the Ateneo Americano in the Casa de América in Madrid (1994–1998) as well as director general of the Spanish National Library (2004–2007).

Works in chronological order

*''Ginebra'' (1987) *''Memoria de Almator'' (1991) *' (1994) *''Canciones de amor y de batalla'' (1995) *''Viaje a la luz del Cham'' (1995) *''Pobre corazón'' (1996) *''Desde el mar'' (1997) *''Más canciones'' (1998) *''Sangre de mi sangre: la aventura de los hijos'' (1998) *''Sombras, nada más'' (1998) *''Luna lunera'' (1999) *''Hi havia una vegada'' (2001) *''La canción de Dorotea'' (2001) *''Per un món millor'' (2002) *''Diario de una abuela de verano. El paso del tiempo'' (2004) *''El valor de la protesta. El compromiso con la vida'' (2004) *''Volcanes dormidos. Un viaje por Centroamérica'' (2005) *''Viento armado'' (2005) *''Memòries de la Costa Brava'' (2006)

Literary prizes

*1994 - Premio Nadal for ''Azul'' *1999 - Ciutat de Barcelona Narrative Award for ''Luna lunera'' *2001 -

for ''La canción de Dorotea'' *2013 –

Premio Biblioteca Breve The Premio Biblioteca Breve is a literary award given annually by the publisher Seix Barral (now part of Grupo Planeta) to an unpublished novel in the Spanish language. Its prize is €30,000 and publication of the winning work. It is delivered in ...

for ''Música de cámara'' THE END

Distinctions

*1st Josep Pla Medal from the Catalan Association of Travel Journalists and Writers (2003) *Knight of the French Légion d'honneur (2005) *Saint George's Cross from the Generalitat de Catalunya (2005)

References

External links

*
"Blue," English translation of "Azul" by Coby Lubliner
{{DEFAULTSORT:Regas, Rosa 1933 births Living people Spanish women novelists Women writers from Catalonia Writers from Barcelona 20th-century Spanish novelists 20th-century Spanish women writers 21st-century Spanish novelists 21st-century Spanish women writers Spanish magazine founders