Irene Solà

One of the most widely read writers of the Catalan literary scene, Irene Solà has a degree in Fine Arts from the University of Barcelona and a master’s degree in Literature, Film and Visual Culture from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom where she lived for six years. A creator of imaginative and poetic literary universes, she made her literary debut as a poet with the collection, Bèstia (Galerada, 2012; in English, Beast, Shearsman Books) for which she received the Amadeu Oller Prize for Poetry. Her second book Els dics, (L’Altra Editorial, 2018), an experimental poetic work set in the rural world, was awarded the 2017 Documenta prize. Now a reference work in Catalan literature, her second novel Canto jo i la muntanya balla (Anagrama 2019), in which she re-creates a polyphonic narrative world where she gives voices to elements of nature, was awarded the 2018 Anagrama Prize for the Novel, and the 2020 European Union Prize for Literature. Her texts and works as a visual artist have been read and exhibited at venues including the CCCB, Whitechapel Gallery and the Jerwood Arts Centre (London), the Bòlit in Girona, and the Festival Poesia i +. She works on the regular basis with the publication La Llança.