Irene Solà Sáez (born 17 August 1990) is a Spanish writer and artist. She has exhibited her work at the CCCB in Barcelona and the

Whitechapel Gallery The Whitechapel Gallery is a public art gallery in Whitechapel on the north side of Whitechapel High Street, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. The original building, designed by Charles Harrison Townsend, opened in 1901 as one of the fi ...

in London. Her first book of poems, ''Bèstia'' won the 2012 Amadeu Oller Prize and her novel ''Els dics'', the 2017 Documenta Prize. She has a degree in fine arts from the

University of Barcelona The University of Barcelona (official name in ; UB), formerly also known as Central University of Barcelona (), is a public research university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. It was established in 1450. With 76,000 students, ...

and a master's in literature, film and visual culture from the

University of Sussex The University of Sussex is a public university, public research university, research university located in Falmer, East Sussex, England. It lies mostly within the city boundaries of Brighton and Hove. Its large campus site is surrounded by the ...

. Her first book of poems, ''Bèstia'' (Galerada, 2012), was awarded the Amadeu Oller Poetry Prize and has been translated into English (as ''Beast'', Shearsman Books, 2017). Her first novel, ''Els dics'' (The Dams, L'Altra Editorial, 2018), won the Documenta prize and was awarded a grant for literary creation by the Catalan Department of Culture. In 2018, she was a resident writer at the Alan Cheuse International Writers Center of

George Mason University George Mason University (GMU) is a Public university, public research university in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. Located in Northern Virginia near Washington, D.C., the university is named in honor of George Mason, a Founding Father ...

(Virginia, United States) and in late 2019 she was selected to participate in the Art Omi: Writers Ledig House programme (New York). In 2019, she was awarded the Premi Llibres Anagrama de Novel·la for ''Canto jo i la muntanya balla'' (When I Sing, Mountains Dance). The same year, she also received the Núvol Prize, and the Cálamo Prize for the Spanish edition of the book. In 2020, she won the

European Union Prize for Literature The European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), established in 2009, is a European Union literary award. Its aim is to recognise outstanding new literary talents from all over Europe, to promote the circulation and translation of literature among ...

and the

Maria Àngels Anglada Prize The Maria Àngels Anglada Prize (in Catalan: ''Premi de Narrativa Maria Àngels Anglada''; ) is a Catalan literary award, given annually by the ''Institut Ramon Muntaner'' ("Ramon Muntaner Secondary School"), in Figueres (Spain), with the aim of co ...

. In 2022 the book was also shortlisted for the

Warwick Prize for Women in Translation The Warwick Prize for Women in Translation is an annual award for work by a female author translated into English and published by a UK-based or Irish publisher during the previous calendar year. The prize was established in 2017 "to address the g ...

. In 2023 the book was shortlisted for the

Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize The Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize is an annual literary prize for any book-length translation into English from any other living European language. The first prize was awarded in 1999. The prize is funded by and named in honour of Lord Wei ...

Works

* ''Canto jo i la muntanya balla'' (Barcelona: Anagrama, 2019) ** ''Canto yo y la montaña baila'', trad. Concha Cardeñoso (Anagrama, 2019) ** ''When I Sing, Mountains Dance'', translated by Mara Faye Lethem (Graywolf Press, 2022) * ''Els dics'' (L'Altra Editorial, 2018) **''Los diques'', trad. Paula Meiss (Anagrama, 2021) * ''Bèstia'' (Galerada, 2012) ** ''Bestia'', trad. Unai Velasco (Anagrama, 2022) ** ''Beast'', translated by Oscar Holloway (Shearsman Books, 2017) *''Et vaig donar ulls i vas mirar les tenebres'' (Barcelona: Anagrama, 2023) **''Te di ojos y miraste las tinieblas'', trad. Concha Cardeñoso (Anagrama, 2023) **''I Gave You Eyes and You Looked towards Darkness''

Works

References

Further reading