Núria Añó

Núria Añó is a Catalan/Spanish writer, a translator and a regular speaker at conferences and symposia, where she gives papers on literary creation, films, cities or authors like Elfriede Jelinek, Patricia Highsmith, Salka Viertel, Karen Blixen, Alexandre Dumas or Franz Werfel.

Her novel "Els nens de l'Elisa" was third among the finalists for the 24th Ramon Llull Prize for Catalan Literature and was published in 2006. "L'escriptora morta" [The Dead Writer, 2020], in 2008; "Núvols baixos" [Lowering Clouds, 2020], in 2009, and "La mirada del fill", in 2012. Her most recent work "El salón de los artistas exiliados en California" [The Salon of Exiled Artists in California, 2020] is a biography of scriptwriter Salka Viertel, a Jewish salonnière and well-known in Hollywood in the thirties as a specialist on Greta Garbo scripts.

Some of her novels, short stories and articles are translated into Spanish, French, English, Italian, German, Polish, Chinese, Latvian, Portuguese, Dutch and Greek.

Her writing focus on the characters' psychology, generally antiheroes. The characters are the most important in her books, much more than the topic, due to "an introspection, a reflection, not sentimental, but feminine". Her novels cover a multitude of topics, treat actual and socially relevant problems such as injustices or poor communication between people and frequently, the core of her stories remains unexplained. Añó asks the reader to discover the "deeper meaning" and to become involved in the events presented.

Literary Prizes/ Awards:

2019. Awarded at International Writer's and Translators' House in Latvia.

2018. Fourth prize of the 5th Shanghai Get-together Writing Contest.

2018. Selected for a literary residence in Krakow UNESCO City of Literature, Poland.

2017. Awarded at the International Writers' and Translators' Center of Rhodes in Greece.

2017. Awarded at the Baltic Centre for Writers and Translators in Sweden.

2016. Awarded at the Shanghai Writing Program, hosted by the Shanghai Writer's Association.

2016. Awarded by the Culture Association Nuoren Voiman Liitto to be a resident at Villa Sarkia in Finland.

2004. Third among the finalists for the 24th Ramon Llull Prize for Catalan Literature.

1997. Finalist for the 8th Mercè Rodoreda Prize for Catalan Short Stories.

1996. Awarded the 18th City of Almenara Joan Fuster Prize for Fiction.