Montserrat Vayreda i Trullol (Lladó, Alt Empordà, 1924 - Figueres, 2006) is a writer who alternates descriptive prose with lyrical poetry while contributing to a range of local reviews and newspapers. She made her literary debut in 1955 with the collection of poems entitled Entre el temps i l'eternitat (Between Time and Eternity), which was followed with Ofrena de Nadal (Christmas Offering) in 1965, though they had limited circulation because of conditions under the Franco dictatorship. Her work also appeared in 1967, in Carmen Conde's anthology Poesía femenina española (Spanish Women Poets) and she has remained in close contact with poets writing in Spanish. In the 1950s and 1960s, she participated in many poetry contests and was named Mestre en Gai Saber (Master of the Art of Poetry) in the Ginesta d'Or Jocs Florals (Golden Broom Poetry Competition) in Perpignon and in the Felibritge (literary – and also political – movement) of Provence. Notable among her more recent work is Els pobles de l'Empordà (Villages of the Empurdà, 1984) in which she devotes a poem to each village of the region.

Her prose work mainly consists of descriptive books – L'Empordà màgic (Magical Empordà, 1988) and La màgia del Baix Empordà (The Magic of the Baix Empordà, 1990) – and exhibition catalogues (Exposició antològica de Josep Bonaterra (Anthological Exhibition of Josep Bonaterra, 1984). She also writes for the reviews and newspapers Presència, Empordà, Vida parroquial, L'ocell de paper and Revista de Girona.

Montserrat Vayreda has made a major contribution with her work in the cultural sphere and, with Carme Guasch and Carles Fages de Climent, she was one of the initiators of the Annual Poetry Festival of Figueres, while also organising functions in homage to figures from, or connected with, the Empordà region.

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


Web page: Sara Beltran for AELC.
Photographs: © Arxiu Montserrat Vayreda / Departament de Cultura (portal), Sara Beltran (biography).
Translation: Julie Wark.