Carme Riera was born in Palma de Mallorca in 1948. She is a prolific author who has written novels, essays, and has ventured to write scripts. She studied Hispanic Studies at Barcelona. She started her literary career with the short story Te deix amor, la mar com a penyora (1974) awarded with Puig i Llensa Prize. In 1975 she published another volume of short stories Jo pos per testimoni les gavines (1977) and it followed Contra l'amor en companyia i altres relats published in 1991 and Llengües mortes (2003).
Her first novel Una primavera per a Domenico Guarini (1980) was awarded with Prudenci Bertrana Prize, the following year she published the erotic novel Epitelis tendríssims.
After these two novels, Riera has been awarded several times for her writings. In 1989 the Ramon Llull Prize was awarded with Joc de Miralls. Her acclaimed novel Dins el darrer blau obtained the Josep Pla Prize in 1994, the Joan Crexells and Lletra d’Or in 1995 and the National Prize of Fiction awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture, which for the first time awarded a Catalan text. This piece of historic fiction narrates the events occurred to the converted Jewish from Mallorca and their later burned at stake. Cap al cel obert (2000), awarded with Crítica Serra d’Or Prize, and her last novels are La meitat de l'ànima  (2004), L'estiu de l'anglès in 2006 and the recently published  Amb ulls americans (2009).
As a script-writer she has written Es diu Maria Puig la meva mare? For Catalunya Radio in 1989. For television (TV3) she has written the scripts in 1994 for the series Quotidiana quotidianitat and Dones d’aigua in 1997.
As a researcher she has published among others the following essays: La escuela de Barcelona (1988), awarded with Anagrama Prize, La obra poética de José Agustín Goytisolo (1987), La obra pética de Carlos Barral in 1990, Escenarios para la felicidad: estampas de Mallorca in 1994, and El Quijote desde el nacionalismo catalán (2005).
She has also written Children’s books Quasi bé un conte, la vida de Ramon Llull in 1980 and the short story La molt exemplar història del gos magic i de la seva cua in 1988. El gos màgic and El meravellós viatge de Maria al país de les tulipes both published in 2003.
When she was pregnant with her second daughter she wrote the diary Temps d'una espera (1998).
She has translated most of her texts into Spanish. Her works have been translated into French, German, Greek, Italian, Russian and Dutch.
She has also edited with Baltasar Porcel i Ramon Solsona Antologia de contes catalans contemporanis  (2001) and Antologia de poesia catalana femenina in 2003.
In 1994 she was appointed Escriptora del Mes by the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes and in 2000 the Generalitat catalana awarded Carmen with the Saint George Cross for her prolific career in literature.
She is a Professor in Hispanic Studies at the Depart. de Filología Española, Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona.