Catalan writer and translator
Bel Olid Báez (born 4 October 1977) is a Catalan writer, translator, and teacher of language, literature, translation, and creative writing. They have received several literary prizes, among them the 2010 Documenta Award. From 2015 to 2022, they were the president of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana. As of 2024, they are an Assistant Instructional Professor in Catalan and Spanish at the University of Chicago.
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Biography.
Born in Mataró, the child of immigrants from another region of Spain, Bel Olid earned a licentiate in Translation and Interpreting from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (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 and Albert Sánchez Piñol, they presented the Writers' Manifesto for Independence, signed by more than 300 writers in favor of the independence of Catalonia.
In 2013, Olid was elected president of the European Council of Associations of Literary Translators (CEATL), and in March 2015 they were elected President of the Association of Writers in Catalan, replacing Guillem-Jordi Graells.
They contribute to various Catalan media outlets, including the newspaper "Ara" and the cultural magazines "Tentacles" and "Núvol".
For the Catalan autonomous elections of 21 December 2017, Bel Olid participated in the lists of the leftist independence coalition Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) for Barcelona.
Personal life.
Olid is a non-binary person and advocates for the use of gender-neutral language in Catalan. Olid uses "they/them" pronouns in English and "elli" in Catalan.
References.
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