Bel Olid

Bel Olid (they, Mataró, 1977) is a writer, translator, Assistant Instructional Professor in Catalan and Spanish at the Romance Languages & Literatures Department and Affiliated Professor at the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality, both at University of Chicago.

They became known in 2010 with the Documenta prize for their novel Una terra solitària. That same year, they were also the recipient of the Rovelló essay prize for their book Les heroïnes contrataquen. Models literaris contra l’universal masculí a la literatura infantil i juvenil. In 2012 they won the Roc Boronat prize for La mala reputación, a brief narrative that was widely acclaimed by critics and readers alike. They are a regular contributor to cultural media and the written press, such as the newspaper Ara, the magazines Caràcters and Tentacles and the cultural web Núvol. They presided the Conseil Européen des Associations de Traducteurs Littéraires (CEATL) and the association of Catalan writers, Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana (AELC). They have published the short-stories Vents més salvatges ('Wilder Winds') and the illustrated albums Gegantíssima and Viure amb la Hilda, awarded with the Apel·les Mestres.

Their latest works mirror the gender, identity and sexuality discussion with a brave and critical analysis either from fiction with Tina Frankens, Camioneres, The Witches of Tleven, the very funny The Extrabombastic Adventures of Frederica Bladuliqui (and the Evil Shimplumstimflins) or Out With Costumes for the youngest or either from non fiction with the unbeateable Feminisme de butxaca and Follem?, with 9 and 6 editions each. 

Hairless (A contrapel), published in Catalan, Spanish and Galician, and already translated in English and Italian, is their last word on the feminist debate while in Suite TOC they take another step in the fight against the taboo of mental illnesses.