Vicenç Villatoro (Terrassa, 1957) is a writer and journalist. He has a degree in Information Sciences and combines writing with his journalistic work in the mass media. He began publishing poetry but eventually moved towards the genre of fiction, where he has written notable historical novels and autobiography. His narrative skills and capacity, forged in countless hours of reading and editing, are patent in his literary and journalistic writings.

Fascinated by Pavese, he followed the example of this writer in his early novels, which were written in the 1980s and featured a nostalgic youth submerged in the past —País d'Itàlia (Country of Italy) and Els anys a Ciutat (The City Years)— although it did not take long for him to expand his register and open up into a very wide-ranging array of styles and subjects, from the historical-war novel, the diary, through to novels for young people. In both his novels and in his essays, V¡llatoro also deals with Jewish matters, for example in his prize-winning work Evangeli gris (The Grey Gospel, 1981).

His commitment to Catalan culture, to the Catalan language and to his country has meant that he has occupied senior management and directorship positions in the public sector as well as in the spheres of culture and journalism, for example the Catalan Radio and Television Corporation and the newspaper Avui.

Vicenç Villatoro ably and freely wields the tools of the art of writing, bringing all his knowledge to bear on the task. A connoisseur of the trade, he is able to adapt to different journalistic and literary registers. This know-how and his skills in creation and re-creation explain the numerous literary prizes he has received in Catalonia, for example the 1981 Sant Jordi (Saint George) Prize for the Novel, the 1987 City of Barcelona Prize, the 1991 Documenta Prize and the 2004 Carlemany Prize.

He is a member of AELC (Association of Catalan Language Writers).


Web page: Eugènia Morer i Serra for AELC.
Translation: Julie Wark.
Photographs: Author's personal files, Òmnium Cultural and Tradicions i Costums.