The Mallorcan writer Maria Antònia Oliver has died this Thursday at the age of 75.
Born in Manacor in 1946, she is considerate one of the most outstanding writers of Catalan literature. His works include ‘El vaixell d’iràs i no tornaràs’, ‘Figues d’un altre paner’, ‘Cròniques de la molt anomenada ciutat de Montcarrà’, ‘Estudi en lila’, ‘Joana E.’ or ‘Amor de cans’, among others.
The first novel he published in 1970 was ‘Cròniques d’un mig estiu’, when he was 23 years old, and since then he has written novels, short stories, theater, articles, translations and screenplays for cinema. Oliver has carved out a niche for himself in the literary world and has reached a large number of readers both in Mallorca and Catalonia as well as in Europe and the United States with the translations of his works.
Maria Antònia Oliver was married to fellow writer Jaume Fuster. Together they formed part of the so-called ‘Literary Generation of the Seventies’. As determined by EFTA, this generation “set out play a relevant and leading role in Catalan literature of the moment”.
Throughout his career, Oliver practiced diversity of genres and his works were translated into English, French, Italian, Spanish, German or Portuguese. He also translated authors such as Virginia Woolf, Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson and Herman Melville into Catalan.
The author was recognized as honorary member of the Association of Writers in the Catalan Language (EFTA).
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In 2003 he received the Ramon Llull award from the Balearic Government and in 2007 the Creu de Sant Jordi from the Generalitat de Catalunya. In 2016 she was distinguished with the Honor Award for Catalan Letters, awarded by Òmnium Cultural.
Last December she was honored at the Teatre Mar i Terra in Palma on the occasion of her 75th anniversary.