Jordi Coca (Barcelona, 1947) has published essays, short stories, novels, poetry and plays as well as television scripts.

He made his literary debut with the novel Un d’aquells estius (Els Lluïsos) (One of Those Summers (The Lluïsos), 1971). Since then he has published numerous novels, collections of short stories, poetry and plays. Notable among his novels are La japonesa (The Japanese Girl, 1992), which was awarded the Josep Pla Prize; Louise: un conte sobre la felicitat (Louise: A Story about Happiness, 1993), winner of the Catalan Critics' Prize for Fiction; Sota la pols (Under the Dust), which received the 1999 Sant Jordi Prize; Cara d'àngel (Angel Face, 2004), awarded the 2003 Joanot Martorell Prize; La nit de les papallones (The Butterfly Night, 2009), winner of the Sant Joan-Caixa de Sabadell prize, En caure la tarda (Twilight, 2012), which was awarded the Catalan Critics' Prize for Fiction and El diable i l'home just (The Devil and the Just Man 2014), awarded the Crítica Serra d'Or for Novel Prize.

In 1999 he published his first play, Platja Negra (Black Beach), which was followed by Tempesta a les mans (Storm in The Hands, 2005), which he directed himself; Interior anglès (English Interior, 2006), which was premiered in 2007; and his adaptations of Sophocles’ Antigone (Antígona, 2002), which was performed in the Teatre Lliure; Ibsen's John Gabriel Borkman (Els senyors Borkman, 2006); and Joan Maragall's Nausica (2006), which was directed by Hermann Bonnín. He regularly works with the press and television, writing scripts for the latter, for example Tot art (All Art) and Els museus (Museums), both of which were shown on Catalan Television.

He has also written poetry, much of it along the lines of Oriental poetry. His versions of Matsuo Basho and Maurice Maeterlinck are outstanding. In addition he has written essays, which are mainly concerned with theatre-related themes, with such well known titles as Joan Brossa o El pedestal són les sabates (Joan Brossa or The Pedestal Is Shoes, 1971), L'Agrupació Dramàtica de Barcelona. Intent de Teatre Nacional Català (1955-1963) (The Dramatic Association of Barcelona: An Attempt at Catalan National Theatre (1955 – 1963), 1978), Adrià Gual: mitja vida de modernisme (Adrià Gual: Half a Lifetime of Modernism – co-authored with Carles Batlle, 1992), and El teatre de Josep Palau i Fabre (The Theatre of Josep Palau i Fabre, 2013).

He is a member of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC – Association of Catalan Language Writers).



Updated by Josep Miàs.
Photographs: AELC files.
Translation: Julie Wark.