Jaume Santandreu i Sureda (Manacor, 1938) is a writer and promotor of initiatives in support of marginalised people. He was a missionary and worker-priest but gave up the priesthood in order to live more freely. Can Gazà, a self-managed institution against exclusion, is the materialisation of his social dream.

He is a prolific writer of works connected with his experiences and critical of power. Many of his books have been awarded prizes, among them Dos pams d’home (Impremta Politècnica, 1971), winner of the City of Manacor Poetry Prize; Coratge d’un mot (Impremta Roig, 1975), finalist for the Andreu Roig Award at the Campos Festival of Letters; Camí de coix (Editorial Moll, 1980), winner of the City of Palma Prize for the Novel; Mamil·la, encara (Tres i Quatre, 1984), Andròmina Prize for Fiction in the October Awards; Encís de minyonia (Sa nostra, 1997), winner of the Miquel Àngel Riera Prize for Fiction; Mortuus Dei (Lleonard Muntaner, 2002), winner of the Alexandre Ballester de sa Pobla Prize for the Short Story; Catedral amb armaris (Llibres de l’Índex, 2004), winner of the Terenci Moix Prize for Gay and Lesbian Fiction; Negrada (Lleonard Muntaner, 2006), winner of the Pare Colom Prize for Mediterranean Fiction; and Cantata Rua Fosca (2006), winner of the 31 de Desembre – Miquel dels Sants Oliver Award. Moreover, he was awarded the 2009 Gold Medal of the Mallorca Council in recognition of his career.

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

Web page: Irene Zurrón Servera for AELC.
Documentation and photographs: Jaume Mateu / Interview in Memoro, the memory bank.
Translation: Julie Wark.