Silvestre Vilaplana i Barnés (Alcoi, l'Alcoià, 1969) has a degree in Catalan Philology from the University of Alacant (Alicante) and presently works teaching at the La Foi d'Ibi Secondary School.

He has worked in a number of different genres, in particular poetry and the novel. Notable among his collections of poems are La senda de les hores (The Pathway of the Hours, 1999), winner of the 25 April Prize, Aigües de clepsidra (Waters of the Clepsidra, 19999), winner of the Paco Mollà Prize, Calendari de silencis (Calendar of Silences, 2000), winner of the 1999 Miguel Hernández National Poetry Prize, Deserts (Deserts, 2005), winner of the 2004 Josep Maria Ribelles Prize, Els colors del vent (Colours of the Wind, 2005), winner of the 2005 Carme Guasch Prize, Partitures perdudes (Lost Scores, 2007), winner of the 2006 Festival of Elx Prize, Bagatge de tenebres (Baggage of Darkness, 2008), winner of the 2007 City of Torrent Prize, and Un altre silenci (Another Silence, 2010), winner of the 2009 Miquel Martí i Pol Prize.

Outstanding among his fictional works for young people are the novels La mirada d'Al-Azraq (The Gaze of Al-Azraq, 1999), winner of the 1998 Prize for Young People's Fiction, Els dimonis de Pandora (Pandora's Demons, 2000), finalist for the 1999 Bancaixa Prize, Les urpes del diable (The Devil's Claws, 2001), La frontera negra (The Black Frontier, 2007) and Resurrecció (Resurrection, 2011), winner of the 2012 Samaruc Prize. He has also written –for adults– a novelised biography of the writer Joanot Martorell (author of Tirant lo Blanc), entitled Les cendres del cavaller (The Knight's Ashes, 2004), which was awarded the 2003 City of Alzira Prize, L'anell del pescador (The Fisherman's Ring, 2005), L'estany de foc (The Pond of Fire, 2010), El quadern de les vides perdudes (The Lost Lifes Notebook, 2012), winner of the 2011 València-Alfons el Magnànim Prize or El triangle rosa (2017), winner of the Fundació Bancaixa and the Valencian Writers Critics' Prize for young people and teenagers narrative Prizes. Some of his novels have been translated into Spanish.

Apart from writing prize-winning works and publishing articles and stories in reviews and collections (for example, Llibre d'escolaritat (The Book of Education) 2004), he has participated in producing several scripts for television. In 2006, he was awarded the prestigious "Serra d'Or" Critics' Prize for his novel Les cendres del cavaller (The Knight's Ashes).

Silvestre Vilaplana is a member of Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC, Association of Catalan Language Writers).



Web page: Carme Ros for AELC.
Translation: Julie Wark.
Photographs: Author's personal files.