Jordi Tomàs (Barcelona, 1971) is an anthropologist and writer. For some time now he has combined his research work on Africa with fiction writing.

He has a PhD in Social and Cultural Anthropology from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (2005) and spent six years working with the Centre for African Studies at the University Institute of Lisbon (2006 – 2012). Since 2013 he has been a researcher at the University of Lleida.

As an anthropologist he has written the children's book Lenessú. Jo sóc de Benín (Lenessú: I'm from Benin, 1998), El pescador que volia anar al país dels blancs (The Fisherman Who Wanted to Go to the Land of White People, 2013), and he has edited several books on the African continent, such as Secesionismo en África (Secessionism in Africa, 2010) or Detrás del ébola (Behind Evola, 2015). He has written a considerable number of chapters in collectively authored books as well as articles for national and international scientific reviews and such publications as Sàpiens, Dcidob, Altaïr, L'Europa de les Nacions, Perspectiva Escolar and Infància. He has taught in several universities and is on the editorial boards of the reviews Studia Africana (Barcelona) and Cadernos de Estudos Africanos (Lisbon). He has also written a biography of his grandfather, a musician and folklorist: Joan Tomàs i Parés: passió per la cançó popular (Joan Tomàs i Parés: A Passion for Folksong, 2008). He was scientific director of the documentary Kásuumaay (Grup d'Estudi de les Societats Africanes, 2013, 52 min.) and has also published photographs in books and magazines.

As a fiction writer he has published the novels Arrels de baobab (Baobab Roots, 2000), Un cor aixanti (An Ashanti Heart, 2008), El mar dels traïdors (Sea of Traitors, 2013, winner of the Odissea Readers' Prize, 2012), and the short stories collections Uns contes tataris (Tatarian Stories, 2007), which includes several stories that have won prizes in different literary competitions and Nené Futa (2015), which won the short stories prize "Històries de muntanya". He has also published short stories in a number of jointly authored works.

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

Contact.



Web page: Josep Miàs for AELC.
Documentation: Jordi Tomàs.
Photographs: Author’s personal files.
Translation: Julie Wark.