Honoris Causa Carmen Balcells i Segalà


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Name

Carmen Balcells i Segalà

Occupation

Literary agent

Date

14/07/2005

Nominated on

Faculty of Philosophy and Art

Investiture

20/12/2005

Sponsor

Carme Riera

Curriculum Vitae

Born in 1930, in Santa Fe, in the Segarra comarca of the province of Barcelona, Carmen Balcells is the daughter of minor rural landowners and the oldest of four children. She attended the local primary school in her village, and in 1946 her family moved to Barcelona. The family lost everything, and Balcells took on several jobs that were completely unrelated to literature.

In 1955, the poet Jaume Ferran, from Cervera, the capital of the Segarra comarca, put Carmen Balcells in contact with 1950s authors, such as the Ferrater brothers, Jaime Gil de Biedma, Carlos Barral, Juan Goytisolo, Josep Maria Castellet, etc. She now worked as a correspondent in Barcelona, while doing extra hours for the ACER literary agency, which included among its authors the Romanian Vintila Horia, winner of the 1960 Prix Goncourt. He later moved to Paris and Carmen Balcells was left without work, but she decided to set up the Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells, which began negotiating the rights to translate foreign authors. Luis Goytisolo was the first Spanish author she represented.

Some authors, such as García Márquez, Marsé, Onetti, Tosar and Dourado, have dedicated novels to her; others, such as Max Aub, Vázquez Montalbán, Donoso and Barral, have included her as a character in their work.

Acceptance speech extract

"D'una banda, sóc corpòria, terrenal, pràctica, apassionada, exigent, generosa, i de l'altra, irracional, generadora inconscient del mite que acompanya la meva vida d'heroïna de llegendes mítiques. He estat, per tant, agent amb llicència per matar, sí, però en realitat només amb el desig interior de ser Alícia al país de les meravelles o una princesa medieval, i he vessat llàgrimes en les batalles, he regat meravelles amb guaranà i risotto, he estimat els autors sense càmeres ni micròfons, i he evadit pors amb mil roses literàries".

Carmen Balcells

Links

Carmen Balcells speech video

Documents

Booklet for the presentation of the honorary degree (pdf MB)