Isabel-Clara Simó Monllor

Isabel-Clara Simó Monllor was born in Alcoi (Alacant) 4th April 1943. She studied Philosophy at Universitat de València, where she met the nationalists under the direction of Valencian writer Joan Fuster. She has worked as a secondary school teacher. In 1968 she married the journalist Xavier Dalfó, director of the magazine ‘Canigó’. She moved to Barcelona with her family where she completed the degree in Journalism and doctorate in Romanic Studies at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, where she also taught translation.

Her first published work was the short-stories collection És quan miro que hi veig clar (1979), awarded by the Víctor Català Prize; with Històries perverses  she was awarded the Crítica Serra d'Or Prize in 1993, where she displays her concern about violence, topic that she will elaborate as well in Perfils cruels (1995). In 1997 she published the collection Dones (1997), later adapted to the big screen by Jordi Cadena and directed by Judith Colell. In 1999 she published Contes d'Isabel and her later short-story collections include Estimats homes (Una caricatura) in 2001 and Angelets in2004.

Isabel-Clara Simó creates very complex characters in her texts with rather conflictive relationships. Her first fiction work was T'estimo Marta (1986). It followed in 1990 Els ulls de Clídice, where she narrates the interaction between three people that live their relationship in a closed circle, and La veïna. One year later, she published La Nati, La salvatge in 1993, awarded with the Sant Jordi Prize. In 1994, the biographical work on Jacint Verdaguer entitled El Mossèn was adapted to be presented in the radio. La innocent in 1995 obtained the Valencia Prize. El professor de música (1998), was awarded with the Crítica dels Escriptors Valencians Prize in 1999. She has also written drama, books of essays and books for children and adolescents.

As a script-writer she collaborated with the Group “La granja”, series that where part of the program La vida en un xip, (Catalan television TV3). Since January 1999 she publishes an article every day in the newspaper Avui.

In 1999, the Catalan Government awarded Isabel-Clara with the Saint George’s Cross.
Her works are translated into German, English, Basc, Castilian, French, Galician, Italian and Dutch.



This biography was put together by Noèlia Diaz-Vicedo (n.diaz-vicedo@qmul.ac.uk) February 2010