Joan Pla (Artana, 1942-2024), a teacher and novelist, writes mainly for children and young people. He studied Education in Castelló and worked as a teacher in L’Alcora, Godelleta, Betxí, and Borriana. He has published articles in the written press and has been editor of Buris-ana, the bulletin of the Agrupació Borrianenca de Cultura (Borriana Culture Group).

He embarked on his literary career with the publication of the books No fiqueu llorers sobre el meu nom (1980, winner of the Ciutat de València-Malvarosa Prize), Mor una vida, es trenca un amor (1981), and La màquina infernal (1985). Since then, he has published a large number of titles for children and young people, notable amongst which are L’anell del papa Luna (1990), Marta i el geni del molí (1994, winner of the Ciutat de Vila-real Prize), La venjança dels criptosaures (1994, winner of the Vila de l’Eliana Prize), L’illa del faraó (1997), Només la mar ens parlarà d’amor (2000, winner of the 1999 Bancaixa Prize for Young People’s Books), Cartes d’amor i de mort (2001, winner of the Ciutat de Torrent Prize), L’autobús Jordiet i la bruixa Elisenda (2003), La mirada clònica (2006), Xantal, la noia digital (2007), Pou sense fons on the rocks (2009), La violinista de París (2010), El caragol fredolic (2013), El repòs dels amants (2014), El primer amor de Joel i Agnés (2015), Pau del geni curt (2019), and La dura decisió de Gabriel (2020).

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

Web page: Toni Terrades for AELC.
Photographs: Author’s personal files.