Pere Calders

Pere Calders i Rossinyol (Catalan: [ˈpeɾə kəlˈdez i rusiˈɲɔl]; Barcelona, 29 September 1912 – 21 July 1994) was a writer, journalist and illustrator from Catalonia, known mainly for his work as a short story writer. Over his life, he received several awards, including the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1982 and the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes in 1986. Besides short stories, Calders wrote several novels and journalistic articles for some of the most important publications in Catalonia. His writings were noted for their irony and occasional fantasy. As an illustrator, he reached the position of director of L'Esquella de la Torratxa, together with his friend Tísner.

After the Spanish Civil War, in which Calders fought on the Republican side, he went into exile in Mexico where he lived for twenty-three years. With the stories he wrote during his early exile years, he compiled a collection called Cròniques de la veritat oculta, his best-known book, which won the Víctor Català Prize in 1954. However, Calders did not become truly popular until 1978 with the premiere of Antaviana, a theatrical work by Dagoll Dagom based on his stories. Following the success of Antaviana, many of his books were reissued and his work was translated into fifteen different languages. In 1992, the Autonomous University of Barcelona awarded him an honorary doctorate.

—Why did you start writing?

—Because I had a head full of stories. At first, I wrote them to explain them to myself, putting them into order. At the time, I did not consider the opinion of others. I was both the businessperson and the audience. But I would lie if I did not confess that when someone, a friend, told me that sometimes I got it right, I felt very flattered. On occasion, I have said that I envy writers for whom writing, according to them, means suffering; it seems to me a symbol of the transcendence of their work. I am ashamed to confess that for me it is the opposite: I suffer when I cannot write. And I enjoy it very much when I do.