Mercè Mallarach (Olot, 1924) is a dressmaker and writer, whose love of writing was prompted by her intense reading of the works of Josep Maria Folch i Torres.

At the age of seventeen, she established her own workshop and, for many years, she and her sister Maria had a sewing establishment for girls. In 1950, she married the painter Juli Batallé i Murlà, with whom she has three children, Concepció, Teresa, and Rafel. She combines her sewing work with writing and reading everything she can get her hands on. Her writings describe her experiences of a lovely childhood, always close to her grandfather and a friend from her ancestral land.

For thirty years, Mercè Mallarach was active with the La Garrotxa association Amics de les Lletres Garrotxines, with which she published four poems every year. From the age of twenty-seven, she published prose and poetry in the Olot weeklies Olot Misión and La Comarca d’Olot, as well as her lifelong contributions to Alimara. Revista de pensament, opinió i reflexió.

She was a member of the Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC – Association of Catalan Language Writers).

 

Web page: Toni Terrades for AELC.
Documentation and biography: Concepció Batallé.
Photographs: Author’s personal files.