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 . From 2015 to 2022, they were the president of the

Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana The Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (, "Association of Writers in the Catalan Language", or "Association of Catalan-Language Writers"), also known by the acronym and initialism, acronym AELC, is a professional organisation of authors, p ...

. As of 2024, they are an Assistant Instructional Professor in Catalan and Spanish at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

Biography

Born in

Mataró Mataró () is the capital and largest town of the Maresme county in Catalonia, Spain. It is located on the Costa del Maresme, Maresme coast, to the south of Costa Brava, between Cabrera de Mar and Sant Andreu de Llavaneres, north-east of Barcel ...

, the child of immigrants from another region of Spain, Bel Olid earned a licentiate in Translation and Interpreting from the

Autonomous University of Barcelona The Autonomous University of Barcelona (; Spanish: ; ; UAB) is a public university mostly located in Cerdanyola del Vallès, near the city of Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. , the university consists of 57 departments in the experimental, lif ...

(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 Josep Maria Espinàs Massip (; 7 March 1927 – 5 February 2023) was a Spanish writer, journalist and publisher known for his novels, travel writing and newspaper articles. Author of an extensive body of literature, Espinàs was honored with ...

and

Albert Sánchez Piñol Albert Sánchez Piñol (; born 11 July 1965) is a Spanish anthropologist, non-fiction writer and novelist writing in Catalan and Spanish. He has been described as a "significant European writer". Theroux, Marcel (19 December 2005)"Cold Skin" ...

, 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 (CEATL), and in March 2015 they were elected President of the Association of Writers in Catalan, replacing . They contribute to various Catalan media outlets, including the newspaper ''

Ara Ara may refer to: Biology * ''Ara'' (bird), a genus of parrots * Ara (fish) (''Niphon spinosus''), a species of fish * L-arabinose operon, also known as ara Places * Ara (mountain), a mountain in Armenia * Ara, Armenia, a village in Armenia ...

'' and the cultural magazines ' and '. For the Catalan autonomous elections of 21 December 2017, Bel Olid participated in the lists of the leftist independence coalition

Popular Unity Candidacy The Popular Unity Candidacy (, CUP) is a left-wing to far-left pro-Catalan independence political party active primarily in Catalonia, where it has political representation, but also in other autonomous communities in Spain it considers to be part ...

(CUP) for Barcelona.

Personal life

Olid is a

non-binary Non-binary or genderqueer Gender identity, gender identities are those that are outside the male/female gender binary. Non-binary identities often fall under the transgender umbrella since non-binary people typically identify with a gende ...

person and advocates for the use of

gender-neutral language Gender-neutral language or gender-inclusive language is language that avoids reference towards a particular sex or gender. In English, this includes use of nouns that are not gender-specific to refer to roles or professions, formation of phrases i ...

in Catalan. Olid uses ''they/them'' pronouns in English and ''elli'' in Catalan.

Works

Books

* ''¡Estela, grita muy fuerte!'' (2008), Editorial Fineo, * ''Les Heroïnes contraataquen'' (2011), * ''Una terra solitària'' (2011), * ''La mala reputació'' (2012), * ''Vents més salvatges'' (2016),

Planeta Group Planeta Corporación, S.R.L., doing business as Grupo Planeta (), is a Spanish mass media conglomerate operating in Spain, Portugal, France and Latin America. It is headquartered in Madrid. Editorial Planeta, founded in 1949, was the seed of Gru ...

, * ''Vides aturades'' (2016), Ara Llibres, * ''Feminisme de butxaca'' (2017), * ''Garbancito'' (2018), Combel Edit, * ''Follem?'' (2019), Bridge, * ''A contrapelo'' (2020), Capitán Swing,

Translations

German to Catalan

Literary awards

* 2009: QWERTY Award from

betevé Betevé, stylized ''betevé'', formerly called ''Barcelona Televisió'', is a Spanish free-to-air television channel in the Catalan language, that is broadcast in Barcelona and Barcelonès, owned by the City Council of Barcelona. History During t ...

for Best Children's Book for ''Estela, grita muy fuerte'' * 2010: for ''Una terra solitària'' * 2011: Rovelló Award for ''Les heroïnes contraataquen: models literaris contra l'universal masculí'' * 2012: Roc Boronat Award for ''Celobert amb papallones'' (''La mala reputació'')

References

External links

Official blog
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olid, Bel 1977 births 21st-century Spanish educators 21st-century Spanish novelists 21st-century Spanish translators Spanish non-binary writers Spanish LGBTQ novelists Spanish LGBTQ politicians Autonomous University of Barcelona alumni Novelists from Catalonia Politicians from Catalonia Short story writers from Catalonia Translators from Catalonia LGBTQ people from Catalonia Non-binary novelists Non-binary politicians Catalan–Spanish translators English–Catalan translators English–Spanish translators French–Catalan translators French–Spanish translators German–Catalan translators Italian–Catalan translators Italian–Spanish translators Living people People from Mataró