- Source: Bel Olid
Bel Olid Báez (born 4 October 1977) is a Catalan writer, translator, and teacher of language, literature, translation, and creative writing. They have received several literary prizes, among them the 2010 Documenta Award. From 2015 to 2022, they were the president of the Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana. As of 2024, they are an Assistant Instructional Professor in Catalan and Spanish at the University of Chicago.
Biography
Born in Mataró, the child of immigrants from another region of Spain, Bel Olid earned a licentiate in Translation and Interpreting from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB) in 1999, and has since dedicated themself to the translation of books and films. They have worked as a language and literature teacher since 2005. In 2010, they obtained a master's degree in Language and Literature Didactics. They have translated works into Catalan from English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish. They are a member of the Gretel children's and youth literature research group at the UAB.
In 2008, Olid published the storybook Estela, grita muy fuerte to help prevent child abuse, released by the Fineo publishing house for the Rana Association (Help Network for Abused Children) of the Balearic Islands. It received the QWERTY Award for best children's book.
In 2010, they published the essay Les heroïnes contraataquen: models literaris contra l'universal masculí, which received the Rovelló Award.
In 2011, Olid published their first novel, Una terra solitària, in which they portray Andalusian immigration in Catalonia together with cultural, social, and sexual identity in the background, and in which they also introduce the problem of sexual abuse. In 2012 they published La mala reputació (Bad Reputation), awarded with the 2013 Roc Boronat de Narrativa.
In October 2014, together with the writers Josep Maria Espinàs and Albert Sánchez Piñol, they presented the Writers' Manifesto for Independence, signed by more than 300 writers in favor of the independence of Catalonia.
In 2013, Olid was elected president of the European Council of Associations of Literary Translators (CEATL), and in March 2015 they were elected President of the Association of Writers in Catalan, replacing Guillem-Jordi Graells.
They contribute to various Catalan media outlets, including the newspaper Ara and the cultural magazines Tentacles and Núvol.
For the Catalan autonomous elections of 21 December 2017, Bel Olid participated in the lists of the leftist independence coalition Popular Unity Candidacy (CUP) for Barcelona.
Personal life
Olid is a non-binary person and advocates for the use of gender-neutral language in Catalan. Olid uses they/them pronouns in English and elli in Catalan.
Works
= Books
=¡Estela, grita muy fuerte! (2008), Editorial Fineo, ISBN 9789709957167
Les Heroïnes contraataquen (2011), ISBN 9788499751122
Una terra solitària (2011), ISBN 9788497876926
La mala reputació (2012), ISBN 9788475883335
Vents més salvatges (2016), Planeta Group, ISBN 9788416367542
Vides aturades (2016), Ara Llibres, ISBN 9788416915118
Feminisme de butxaca (2017), ISBN 9788415307594
Garbancito (2018), Combel Edit, ISBN 9788491012474
Follem? (2019), Bridge, ISBN 9788416670444
A contrapelo (2020), Capitán Swing, ISBN 978-8412232486
= Translations
=German to Catalan
Literary awards
2009: QWERTY Award from betevé for Best Children's Book for Estela, grita muy fuerte
2010: Documenta Award for Una terra solitària
2011: Rovelló Award for Les heroïnes contraataquen: models literaris contra l'universal masculí
2012: Roc Boronat Award for Celobert amb papallones (La mala reputació)
References
External links
Official blog
"Bel Olid". lletrA-UOC – Open University of Catalonia.