ABOUT MARIA BARBAL
Maria Barbal (Tremp, 1949). Born in the region of Pallars Jussà, she moved to Barcelona in the mid-sixties –in what she calls "a cultural migration"– and graduated with an Arts degree from the University of Barcelona. She first became known as a writer with Pedra de tartera (Mountain Scree - 1984), which won the Joaquim Ruyra prize in 1984, among other major awards. Her other works include Càmfora (Camphor - 1992) winner of the National Catalan Literature Prize 1993, awarded by the Catalan government, Carrer Bolívia (Bolívia Street - 2000), Bella edat (Beautiful Age - 2003) and País íntim (Intimate Country - 2005). The clarity with which she writes of human relations and the effects of time on one's life experiences has earned her critical acclaim and a wide readership.
"Now I'm being asked why I write, in present tense. There's more than one answer so each one covers only a part of the reasons, although any one of these parts alone is sufficient reason for me to write. I write because I like it. Because it's a way of getting inside other skins. By which I mean it enables me to be who I'm not, and to do what I don't do. No doubt it's an attempt at transvestitism and unconformity. I write to have the freedom to say what I wouldn't say in conversation. Sometimes I write out of need."
More on Maria Barbal: here.
ABOUT THE NORTH AMERICAN CATALAN SOCIETY
The North American Catalan Society (NACS) is a professional association of scholars, students, and people with a general interest in any aspect of Catalan culture (literature, linguistics, visual and performing arts, history, and philosophy, among other disciplines).
Founded in 1978, during the First Colloquium of Catalan Studies in North America (held at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), the NACS is committed to encouraging and advancing the study of Catalan language and culture in the North American academy. It seeks to foster greater visibility for and dissemination of scholarship in the field of Catalan Studies and serves as a central point of reference, as well as a public voice, for a network of scholars in this field. To this end, the NACS holds biennial colloquia (along with occasional smaller symposia) and publishes the Catalan Review: International Journal of Catalan Culture.
