Ramon Folch i Camarassa(Barcelona, 1926) is a translator, novelist and playwright. The ninth child of the well-known writer Josep Maria Folch i Torres, he obtained a degree in Law although he never practised in the profession. After working for the publishing house Janés, he realised that he could earn a living as a translator, whereupon he began to recast the books of others and write his own.

In this career he strove to achieve a balance between aesthetic and social commitments. Addressing a large, diverse public, his literary oeuvre is of outstanding quality and numbers almost fifty published works, mainly novels but also poetry, short stories and plays. Moreover he has translated more than a hundred and fifty books into Catalan.

Many of his works have been awarded some of the most prestigious literary prizes, including the Joanot Martorell Prize for La maroma (The Hawser, 1956), the Sant Jordi (Saint George) Prize for La visita (The Visit, 1964), the Ramon Llull Prize for Sala de miralls (Hall of Mirrors, 1982) and the Sant Joan (Saint John) Prize for Testa de vell en bronze (Old Man's Head in Bronze, 1997) for his novels; the City of Barcelona Prize for Aquesta petita cosa (This Small Thing, 1954) and the Joan Santamaria Prize for Cap de setmana damunt l'herba (Weekend on the Grass, 1967), for his plays; the Víctor Català Prize for the collection of short stories La sala d'espera (Waiting Room, 1960); and the Pere Quart Prize for Manual del perfecte escriptor mediocre (Manual of the Perfect Mediocre Writer, 1991) and the Jaume Maspons Prize for Manual de la perfecta parella mediocre (Manual for the Perfect Mediocre Couple, 2005) in the domain of satire and humour. Outstanding among the tributes he has received in recognition of his work are the Creu de Sant Jordi (Saint George Cross) awarded by the Generalitat (Government) of Catalonia and the title of Doctor Honoris Causa from the Autonomous University of Barcelona for his prodigious production as a translator.

He is still writing and translating and is also director of the Folch i Torres Foundation and of his Museum-Archive, which is located in the castle of Plegamans.


Web page: Carles Adamuz for AELC.
Photograph: ©Cristina Fores (photograph ceded by the Folch i Torres Foundation)