Julià de Jòdar (Badalona, 1942) is a writer. He grew up in the Badalona district of Gorg and has a degree in Contemporary History. Besides having begun work on one of the most rigorous historical trilogies of recent years, he has also been engaged in publishing books and writing articles and essays expressing his ideas about present-day society.

The main focus of Jòdar's work is the trilogy L'atzar i les ombres (Chance and Shadows), which aims to offer a full account of the Catalan proletariat from the 1950s until the years of the transition after Franco’s death. Two titles of this ambitious project have already been published. L’àngel de la segona mort (The Angel of the Second Death, 1997) deals with the struggle for survival starting out from a crime, while El trànsit de les fades (The Movement of Fairies, 2001), on the same theme, starts out from a tragic story of love and death. Both novels have been recognised with critics’ awards and the author has revealed that the trilogy will close with the novel A la recerca de l’heroi proletari català (In Search of the Catalan Proletarian Hero).

Besides a book of short stories, Zapata als encants (Zapata in the Flea Market, 1999), he has also written another novel, L'home que va estimar Natàlia Vidal (The Man Who Loved Natàlia Vidal), winner of the Prudenci Bertrana Prize in 2002, in which the author takes stock of a generation – that of the "progressives" – which, in this story, still has a lot to say. His narrative work is based on considerable documentation, subsequently channelled into well-worked settings and characters, which has earned him the praise of critics and recognition of readers.

He is a member of AELC (Association of Catalan Language Writers).


Web page: Xulio Ricardo Trigo.
Translation: Julie Wark.
Photograph: Cristian Calderer (Avui).