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Centre for the Study of Contemporary Women's Writing (CCWW)

Mercè Rodoreda

Mercé Rodoreda i Gurguí was born on 10 October 1908 in Barcelona. She is the most translated author from Catalan into any other language, and her novel La plaça del Diamant (In Diamond Square) is one of the most celebrated novels of the Spanish Civil War. 

Rodoreda grew up in the Eixample area of Barcelona. In 1928 she married her uncle, Joan Gurguí Guàrdia and they had one child together, Jordi. After the birth of her son, Rodoreda began to work as a writer, and in 1932 her first novel, Sóc una dona honrada? (Am I an Honest Woman?) was published. Rodoreda also wrote articles and short stories for magazines, such as the publications Clarisme, Mirador, and La Revista, and formed part of a circle of Catalan writers. From 1937 onwards she worked for the Generalitat de Catalunya in the Ministry of Information. 

Merce Rodoreda (photo from portrait Vilallonga via WikiCommons CC BY-SA 2.5 Generic).jpg
1997 photo by Vilallonga of a portrait of Mercè Rodoreda Rodoreda owned by the photographer's family (via Wikimedia Commons CC BY-SA 2.5)

On 23 January 1939 Mercè Rodoreda, along with other Catalan writers and intellectuals, leaves Barcelona and goes into exile shortly before the end of the Spanish Civil War. At first they settle in Roissy-en-Brie in France, and Rodoreda is accompanied by Anna Murià, Armand Obiols, Francesc Trabal and Carles Riba, amongst others. Following the outbreak of the Second World War, the group separated and Rodoreda moves with Armand Obiols to Limoges and then Bordeaux. During this time Rodoreda continues to write in Catalan and enters works of poetry to the Jocs Florals competition; she also begins to paint. 

Rodoreda and Obiols, who were now in a relationship, move to Geneva in 1954. Rodoreda’s collection of stories entitled Vint-i-dos contes (Twenty-Two Short Stories), written in exile, is awarded the Victor Català Prize. In 1962, La plaça del Diamant was published by Club dels Novel·listes. The work had previously been submitted for the Sant Jordi Prize, but did not win. The novel was translated into Spanish in 1965, and into English in 1967. In 1966, her novel El carrer de les Camèlies is published, and this time she wins the Sant Jordi Prize. Rodoreda continues to write, and her works Jardi vora el mar (Garden by the Sea) and La meva Cristina i altres contes (My Cristina and Other Stories) are also published in this decade. 

Rodoreda returns to Catalonia in 1972, living in Romanyà de la Selva. Her novel Mirall trencat (A Broken Mirror) is published in 1974 and Quanta, quanta guerra (War, So Much War) is published in 1980. Her further collections of short stories, Semblava de seda (It Seemed like Silk) and Viatges i flors are also published in the same year. La plaça del Diamant was adapted into a film by Francesc Betriu in 1982. 

On 13 April 1983, at the age of 74, Mercè Rodoreda died in Girona. Her novel, La mort i la primavera (Death in Spring) was published posthumously in 1986. A foundation in her name was set up in 1991, and in 1998 the Mercè Rodoreda Prize for literature and short stories was established. To date, her work has been translated into over 30 languages and she is considered a leading figure in Catalan literature. 

Compiled by Daisy Towers (Leeds)