Friday 24 October, 17.30 - 18.45
László Krasznahorkai, in conversation with Miquel de Palol
Narrating the Apocalypse
Architect and writer, one of the most unique and ambitious voices from Catalonia in recent decades.
Miquel de Palol
©︎ Image courtesy of Navona Editorial
Participates in...
Born in Barcelona, Miquel de Palol spent his childhood and early years in Valladolid; on his return to Barcelona, he studied architecture, while also beginning his literary career as a poet. In 1982, he won the Carles Riba Prize for poetry with El porxo de les mirades [The Watching Porch], a book that also won the Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize (1984). He has published some 20 collections of poetry, but soon turned to fiction, where he has built a monumental body of work with an intense intellectual power.
His first novel, The Garden of Seven Twilights (1989), became a true literary phenomenon: with more than a thousand pages, it won almost all the major awards of the time (Crexells Prize, Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize, National Award for Literature from the Generalitat, and Ojo Crítico), and Palol emerged as one of the most powerful and bold voices in contemporary Catalan narrative.
Since then, Palol has developed his own literary universe, between fantasy and mythic fiction and philosophical speculation, always with an intense stylistic and conceptual ambition. His novels include Ígur Neblí (Premi Ciutat de Barcelona, 1994), El legislador [The Lawmaker] (Premi Josep Pla, 1997), Contes per vells adolescents [Stories for Old Adolescents] (Premi Víctor Català, 1997), El quincorn (Premi Sant Jordi, 1998), Bootes [Boötes] (2023) and Abans més que encara [Before more than Still] (2025).
His work has been translated into Spanish, German, Dutch, Italian, French and English, and it is recognized as among the most innovative and complex in contemporary Catalan literature.
