Maria Dolors Alibés i Riera (Vidrà, 1941 – Sant Pau de Segúries, 2009), a teacher and author of children’s and young people’s books, worked in the Ametlla de Merola textile factory in her youth. As an adult, she studied History and then began to publish her own books at the age of thirty-eight. Once she had embarked on her literary career, she published almost forty books for children, collections of stories, and short novels, as well as some poetry. In the 1980s and 1990s she published short stories in a range of magazines for children and young people, among them Cavall Fort, Rodamón, and Tretzevents. Moreover, she wrote on a regular basis for such newspapers as Avui, 9 Nou, and Regió 7, and also worked with several radio stations and co-authored textbooks. Over the years, she visited many schools to speak to students and exchange experiences with them.

Regarded as a “doyenne of parody” and influenced by Rodari, she was described as being among writers of the absurd. Her books, which are full of action and fantasy, are also notable for their linguistic and stylistic innovation, frequently starting with the title itself. Some of her books, like Màquines d’empaquetar fum i altres enginys (1980), El planeta Mo (1988), Superfantasmes en un supermercat (1989), and Monstre busca monstra (1994) have appeared in numerous editions and also in translation, especially into Spanish, but also Basque, Galician, Aranese, and French.

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

Web page: Oriol Valls for AELC.
Cover photograph: Juan López.