Carles Torner

Carles Torner was born in Barcelona in 1963 and gained his PhD in Education Sciences at the University of Paris VIII. He is a poet, novelist and essayist. His literary activity covers poetry, essay and narrative. His published books of poetry include A la ciutat blanca (1984), Premi Amadeu Oller 1984; Els límits de la sal (1985), Premi Carles Riba 1984; L’àngel del saqueig (1990); Viure després (1998), Premi de la Crítica de Poesía Catalana, and La núvia de Europa (2008). He is the author of the novel L’estrangera (1997), the essays El principi acollida. Sobre el diàleg intercultural (1995), La victòria pòstuma de Hitler (1995), Catalunya no governamental. Aportacions de cinc ONG catalanes a la governació (2001) and Shoah, una pedagogia de la memòria (2002), and the compilation of letters to women activists the world over, L’arca de Babel (2005). He has also contributed hundreds of articles to newspapers and magazines such as Avui, La Vanguardia, El País, Serra d’Or, El Ciervo, Foc Nou and Quimera.

Currently executive director of PEN International, he was previously secretary of the PEN Català, board member of PEN International and president of the Translation and Linguistic Rights Committee, where he devised and promoted the Universal Declaration of Linguistic Rights. He was head of the Literature and Thought Section of the Institut Ramon Llull from 2004 to 2010, and now lectures in the Blanquerna Communication Faculty (URL).