ASSOCIACIÓ D'ESCRIPTORS EN LLENGUA CATALANA

The AELC was created on October 31, 1977.
If we were to give a brief history of the association, we'd state that under Franco's dictatorship writers in the Catalan language were never able to form a legally constituted professional organization that could oversee the rights of writers and their professional interests, and which could diffuse literature in Catalan within Catalan territory as well as beyond its borders. All attempts to create such an organization were prohibited by Franco's government which was intent on eliminating the Catalan language and the culture that derived from it.

Writers in Catalan participated in all of the vindicatory movements of our country without obtaining the level of coordination necessary that would have permitted them to create a professional association such as the one that existed at the time of the Generalitat of Catalonia during the Spanish Republic of 1931 to 1938. The first organization of the sector that was born during the dictatorship was the Centro Catalán de PEN Club. It operated in exile after1938 and was reorganized within Catalonia in 1973. The administrative difficulties of the moment forced this organization to lead a clandestine existence and it wasn't until after the death of Franco that it could act publicly.

When the Conference of Catalan Culture (in 1975) was convoked, collective reflection was called for concerning the state of our culture and its future in reference to the origins of the democratization process of the state and the autonomous processes. Writers in the Catalan language participated in this conference under the heading of 'Literary Production'. In this group's conclusions at the conference, the writers proposed the creation of a professional association of writers in the Catalan language. This association would at the same time be an organization that oversaw the professional rights of writers (a writer's union), as well as a vehicle for cultural promotion. The association would become the single unified organ of writers in the Catalan language through which a dialogue would have to be established with the future autonomous authorities of our country.

The association thus came into being on the 31st of October, 1977, with the participation of more than 100 writers from all of the Catalan speaking territories, that is to say, Catalonia, the Valencian area, the Balearic Islands, and as well with the written participation of another 100 writers who could not personally attend the ceremony. From 1977 to 1988, the AELC developed the representative functions of the literary vitality of the Catalan countries with the desire to articulate a program that would be an instrument of dialogue and relation with the new political powers that constituted what was known as the Spanish democratic transition. One of the primary objectives was to re-vitalize the idea of the Institute of Catalan Letters, an institution that had been active during the 1930's until the end of the Spanish Civil War. The AELC proposed the creation of an infrastructure that recognized the aspirations of its associates and defended their interests. In 1988 the autonomous government of the Generalitat of Catalonia decreed to finally restore the ILC. Since then the AELC has centered its activities primarily on aspects of the writer's union and its claims, while leaving questions of representation to the ILC.

The AELC divides its activities into two large blocks that revolve around two axes: professional activity and cultural activity.

STRUCTURE AND OPERATION

Social Structure

The AELC is a unitary entity formed by its members - writers of books, literary and technical translators, and scriptwriters - that meet in a general assembly, the maximum directive organ of the association, the board of directors, and the technical personnel. Its scope of activity includes the Catalan speaking territories of the Spanish state, and it has a special tie to the Association of Writers of Andorra (a Catalan language country).

Territorial Structure

In order to facilitate the functioning of the AELC, one part of the board (three vice-presidents and nine members) is territorial. The other part (president, secretary and treasurer) is genreral. The technical personnel and services are also general.

Structure by Section

The AELC is also divided into sections - that is when the members desire it, the professional circumstances advise it, and the organizational capacity permits it. At present there exists sections of translators, audiovisual translators, screenwriters, critics, children's and infant's literature. To facilitate their functioning, all of these sections are represented on the board of directors by members or by co-optation.

Economic Structure

There exists ordinary and extra-ordinary financing that comes from membership fees, profits from activities and collaborations, and above all from existing public and private subsidies. The board of directors establishes a budget in respect to the needs of the entire AELC. Members have the right and the obligation to help obtain private and public financing which must always be administered by the board of directors. The control of expenses is the responsibility of the treasury.

Social Functioning

The AELC has three basic axes of operation:

1. To protect the professional, cultural, and intellectual interests of writers.

In this context, we'd like to emphasize the important work realized by the AELC since 1988, the year in which the Generalitat of Catalonia made the Institute of Catalan Letters (ILC) a functioning entity. During this period (1977-1991, with the writer Guillem-Jordi Graells as Secretary) important judicial activity took place. Above all, the AELC participated in the elaboration of the Law of Intellectual Property. The AELC actively intervened in the administration of the Value Added Tax (VAT) and generally, in all that related to the fiscal concerns of the writer. We must not forget that up until that time the act of writing was not considered a professional activity but rather an exclusively vocational one. This intervention meant that one year later a landmark agreement was reached with the federation of publishers, in respect to both authors' as well as translators' contracts. In 1991 screenwriters' contracts were negotiated and established, with the agreement of Televisión de Catalunya (TVC). With these instruments, writers have become professionals of cultural production in Catalonia.

2. To Promote Catalan literature in national and international society, and to help in the professional, technical, and cultural development of its members.

In this context, one of the most popular initiatives has been the Meetings of Writers which, like the AELC, has joined together authors from all corners of the Catalan linguistic realm; specifically from the three autonomous regions within the Spanish state: the Valencian country, the Balearic Islands, and Catalonia. It is important to note that the AELC is the only cultural association whose scope includes the entire linguistic territory. This fact is a reflection of a complex political situation derived from the fact that each autonomous community has its own government with its own distinct politics and manner of acting.

3. To represent Catalan writers in a collective manner before public, private, community, state, national and international institutions.

The public institutions that the AELC currently maintains relations with are:

1. The Generalitat of Catalonia. Autonomous government of the northern territories of the Catalan speaking area. At present relations with the Generalitat are carried out largely through the Institute of Catalan Letters (ILC). The relationship is marked by a close working collaboration that manifests itself principally in the special attention paid to the promotion of Catalan literature outside of Catalonia and in the celebration of promotional activities of diverse nature.

2. The Municipal Government of Barcelona. The AELC collaborates with the municipal institutions in diverse activities related to the world of literature and receives a yearly subsidy from the city in order to be able to organize local activities.

3. The Spanish Ministry of Culture. The AELC receives regular aid from the Center of Spanish Letters for the realization of certain activities.

4. The Government of the Balearic Islands. (The Insular Council of Majorca). A collaborative process has been initiated with the Balearic government to organize activities that concern Majorcan writers and that aid exchanges between Catalonia and the Balearic Islands with the aim of increasing mutual knowledge between these two shores of the Mediterranean.

5. The Valencian Generalitat. The autonomous government of Valencia collaborates with the AELC in the activities organized in its territories.

6. Another area of interest that has been activated recently in 1996 and 1997, is the AELC's relation with the university sector. Traditionally, academics have preferred historical literary studies while the presence of writers has been very limited. From 1995 onwards, agreements have been made with universities so that living writers now have an important presence in the world of the university. At the moment, agreements have been signed with the Autonomous University of Barcelona, the Rovira i Virgili University of Tarragona and the Jaume I de Castelló University. As a general rule, an annual calendar of jointly organized activities concerning contemporary literature is established.

Concerning the private sector, we'd like to emphasize the existing collaboration with the entity that administrates the rights of authors CEDRO (Spanish Center for Copy Rights). CEDRO currently collaborates with the financing of the writer's workshops organized by the AELC among other activities that promote authors. Collaboration also exists with the SGAE (General Society of Authors and Publishers) in the form of economic contributions and the exchange of information.

International relations are organized through:

EWC (European Writer's Congress) CEALT (Member of the European Council of Literary Translators' Associations). In 1995 Barcelona was the host city for the annual assembly of the CEALT. Drafted (and approved unanimously) at this meeting was the decalogue of the organization that established the principles bestowing dignity on the profession of literary translator.

Briefly summarized below are the most common activities that the AELC performs during the course of a year, apart from its normal functions.

1) Meeting of Writers.

A meeting is organized every year around a central theme, so that opinions can be exchanged on subjects that interest and concern us. In 1997 the meeting was held on the island of Ibiza and the subject of the meeting focused on the writer and mass media.

2) Galeusca

This is an historic event which in 1977 was already in its 16th edition. It is a meeting between writers of the minority languages of the Spanish state: Gallego, Basque. and Catalan. The meeting is celebrated every two years and the host association assumes the responsibilities of organization.

3) Seminar on Translation

This seminar has been held since 1992. Its objective is to intensely and profoundly study for one day some concrete aspect of literary translation. In 1997, for example, the seminar focused on the subject of self-translation, a very special subject for a country that has two closely related official languages. Catalan literature is a literature of small dimensions. It has ten million speakers and this seems to explain its condition as a translated literature. This fact is also explained by geographical conditions and by its inherent openess as an eminently Mediterranean country. Whatever the reason may be, the reality of the situation is that a strong tradition of translation exists, both quantitatively and qualitatively. The 'Bible' and the 'Odyssey' and many other works of classical Greek and Latin were very early translated into Catalan. In general, the translators were the authors. As the century has advanced, a greater professionalization has been produced and the range of translated work has been broadened. A great deal is translated into Catalan, but similarly, Catalan literature is also frequently translated. In recent years, more than sixty books are translated into other languages each year.

4) Seminars and courses in universities. As an example, we may mention the masters program on language and mass media given in collaboration with the Rovira i Virgili University.

5) Writers workshops. Designed primarily for young writers. For one full weekend established writers talk about how they work to young writers. There have been workshops on narration, for example. Quim Monzó, among others, participated in this workshop. There have also been workshops on militant literary criticism in newspapers and publications; literary theory in academia and the literary essay.

6) In terms of prizes, the AELC gives the Cavall Verd (Green Horse) prize each year for the translation of poetry. This is, without a doubt, the only prize of its kind that exists in the Spanish state. The AELC also gives the Josep M. Llompart prize. Also celebrated are The Prizes for Valencian Writers, in which several days of study are devoted to an author of importance to Catalan culture. One of these prizes was recently given to Joan Fuster, one of the most important authors of Catalan literature, who was president of the AELC and who died in 1992.