Anna Aguilar-Amat has a PhD from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, where she now teaches Terminology and Computational Linguistics at the Translation Faculty and has written several specialised texts in that field. Although she received some literary awards as a student and has written the lyrics for various musicians, she came to the foreground of the contemporary Catalan poetry scene when she was awarded three of the most prestigious and traditional prizes for Catalan poetry in two consecutive years: the 'Jocs Florals' of the city of Barcelona for her first published work, the book Petrolier, the ‘Carles Riba Award’ for Trànsit entre dos vols, and the ‘Màrius Torres Award’ for Música i escorbut. Together with the well-known Catalan poet, Francesc Parcerisas, she has also published the poetry book Coses Petites : poemes a quatre mans, with illustrations by the publisher, Miquel Plana, and the book of essays, El placer de la lectura. Her fourth book of poems is Jocs de l'oca. The poems in the book are laid out like the 63 squares of the board game and the book can be "played" as well as read. Her poetic work is included in various anthologies of Catalan poetry and she has been translated into Arabic, English, Finnish, French, Italian, Macedonian, Sardinian, Slovene, Spanish and Ukrainian. She has been included in the anthology New European Poets, edited by Wayne Miller & Kevin Prufer. She also forms part of the Scottish Poetry Library. Since 2003, she has been president of QUARKpoesia, a university association promoting poetry and translation of poetry from less translated languages. In 2006, she organized and launched the poetry publication series, Refraccions, dedicated primarily to publishing bilingual poetry books, through the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona's publishing office, the Servei de Publicacions. As a performer, she has toured far and wide reciting her poetry. She has participated in the major festivals of Catalonia and Valencian Community, including the "Setmana de Poesia de Barcelona 2001", and has organized a number of poetry readings at the university, as well as inviting guest speakers from abroad. In she was invited to participate at the first Festa de la Poesia a Sitges, created by the also poets Joan Duran and Cèlia Sànchez-Mústich, where she was honoured for her contribution to the Catalan Poetry. On the international level, she has recited in various countries, the latest being Argentina and Ukraine, earlier festivals including StAnza, Scotland's Poetry Festival, as well as a recital at the Nuyorican Poets Café. Her poetry surprises with its radical authenticity, which manifests itself through a combination of narrative, lyricism and original imagery.
Works
Poetry
Petrolier, series "Edicions de la Guerra", Editorial Denes, Paiporta, València, 2003.
Trànsit entre dos vols, Edicions Proa, Barcelona, 2001.
Música i escorbut, Edicions 62, Barcelona, 2002
Coses Petites : poemes a quatre mans, co-authored by Francesc Parcerisas, with illustrations by the publisher. Miquel Plana Publisher, Olot, 2002.
Music and Scurvy, translation from the Catalan of the book Música i escorbut by Anna Crowe, Sandstone Press, Scotland, 2005.
Jocs de l'oca, Servei de Publicacions, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra, 2006.
Càrrega de color, Editorial Meteora, Barcelona, 2011.
The EmLit Project: European minority literatures in translation, Brunel U. Press, 2003.
Bouesia 2006, regsexcital de bouversos. Arola Editors, Tarragona, 2006.
Light off water : XXV Catalan Poems 1978-2002, Carcanet, Scottish Poetry Library, 2007.
New European Poets, edited by Wayne Miller & Kevin Prufer. Greywolf Press, Minnesota, 2008.
Eròtiques i despentinades. Un recorregut de cent anys per la poesia catalana amb veu de dona, Encarna Sant-Celoni i Verger, ed. Illustrations by Maria Montes. Arola Editors, Tarragona, 2008.
