Matthew Tree (London, 1958) is a novelist and short story writer.

In 1979 he taught himself Catalan and, in 1984, came to live in Barcelona. He has published the novels Fora de lloc (1996), Privilegiat (2001), winner of the Columna Prize, and De fora vingueren (2016), a novel which was originally written in English and published in 2013 with the title SNUG. In 1999, he received the Andròmina Prize for his short story collection Ella ve quan vol. He has also published the titles CAT. Un anglès viatja per Catalunya per veure si existeix (2000), Memòries! 1974-1989. Dels quinze anys fins als trenta. Londres-Barcelona (2004), Contra la monarquia (2004), Aniversari. Quatre reflexions sense cap mena d’importància després de passar exactament vint anys entre els catalans (2005), La puta feina (2006), La vida després de Déu (2007), Negre de merda. El racisme explicat als blancs (2011), and Com explicar aquest país als estrangers (2011).

As a member of the Germans Miranda group, he has contributed stories to the collections Aaaaaahhh... Dotze contes eròtics (1998), El Barça o la vida (1999), Tocats d’amor (2000), Contes per a nenes dolentes (2001), and La vida sexual dels germans M. (2002). Matthew Tree has translated several books by Catalan authors into English, among them Armadillo skin (Pell d’armadillo) by Jordi Puntí and Goya’s Glass (Dona dels cent somriures) by Monika Zgustová. He writes regularly for the media including the publications El Punt Avui, Catalonia Today, and The Times Literary Supplement.

Tree is a member of Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC – Association of Catalan Language Writers).



Web page: Toni Terrades for AELC.
Photograph: author’s personal files.
Translated by Julie Wark.