Glòria Bordons (Barcelona, 1953). Educator, doctor in Catalan Philology and bachelor in History of Art. She is titular professor at the University of Barcelona and has been visiting professor in several Spanish universities and also in the universities of Sonora (Mexico), ULBRA in Porto Alegre and USAP in São Paulo (Brazil), Playa Ancha in Valparaíso and Universidad de Chile, Finis Terrae and Diego Portales in Santiago (Chile), Nacional de la Plata (Argentina), Nova de Lisboa (Portugal), Experimental Pedagógica de Maracay (Venezuela), Adam Mickievicz in Poznań (Poland), París IV-Sorbonne (France) and Belgrad (Serbia). She is director of the Fundació Joan Brossa since 2013 and one of the leading specialists in his work.
Vicenç Altaió (Santa Perpètua de Mogoda, 1954) is a poet, essayist, translator, literary critic, columnist and a trafficker of ideas. He founded and directed KRTU and he is currently director of the Arts Santa Mònica. Always on the lookout for new aesthetic oscillations in the arts, in literature and in critical and scientific thinking, he has slowly constructed a very personal body of work. At the same time, he has launched many multidisciplinary projects, the highlights being the journals Tarotdequinze, Èczema, Àrtics and Cave Canis. Among his most accomplished work is his poetry, collected in Massa fosca (2004) and the subsequent Santa Follia de Ser Càntic (2005). He has also published the series Tràfic d’idees —an intellectual autobiography that is filled with his writings on contemporary artists and defends renovation as the moral standard of art—, which is formed by the books L’escriptura sense llançadora (1997), La Desconeguda (1997), La dificultat (1999), Desglossari d’un avantguardista (2000), Els germans (2002), El cervell i les venes (2005), La consola de Cadaqués (2007) and, finally, Un sereno en el cementiri de l’art (2011).
Jordi Carulla-Ruiz (Barcelona, 1972). És editor, poeta i artífex de l’Associació Joan Ponç i d’Edicions Poncianes. S’inicia en la poesia amb el llibre L’escorça i la mel (2008). Neu/or negre és el seu segon volum de poemes.
Antonin Artaud (1896-1948). Poet, playwright, essayist and theatre director, he played a central role in 20th century avant-garde movements and is considered to be one of the fathers of contemporary theatre. In 1932 he wrote Teatre de la crueltat (Théâtre de la cruauté), a manifesto that laid the foundations of avant-garde theatre together with his plays El teatre i el seu doble (Le Théâtre et son double, 1938) and Heliogàbal (1934). Homeless and mentally ill, he spent most part of his later life living in asylums. Van Gogh, suïcidat per la societat (Van Gogh le suicidé de la société, 1947), one of his most famous works, was published shortly before his death.
Samuel Beckett (Dublin, 1906 – Paris, 1989) was an Irish poet, novelist and playwright. With a minimalist style and a clear pessimistic drive in relation to human nature and condition, Beckett also gave a touch of humour to his works that never abandons the reader. Beckett won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1969. He is regarded as one of the most representative figures of the Theatre of Absurd and of 20th-century literary experimentalism.
Pier Paolo Pasolini (Bologna, 1922 – Ostia, 1975) was an Italian writer, poet and film director. His poetic work, as well as his essays and his production as a journalist, combatively questioned official Marxism and Catholicism, censuring their poor understanding of the cultural background of their own proletarian and rural bases.
Fernando Pessoa (Lisbon, 1888-1935) is the most representative figure of 20th century Portuguese poetry and had a decisive role in introducing Surrealism in his country, as well as being a renowned essayist and translator. After spending his early years in Cape City, in returning to Lisbon he kickstarted his literary career and earned himself a place at the aesthetical spotlight of the Portuguese avantgarde. His interest in writers such as Nietzsche, Shakespeare or Milton drew him towards translating some of his early work into English. Despite publishing only one work in Portuguese in his lifetime, Mensagem, he left a vast written production, which can be found in the famous pessoan espólio. A year before his death, a number of poems written under many different heteronyms saw the light of day, showcasing the complexity of his personality and the variety of alter egos through which he chose to express himself. His complete works have been published posthumously.
Salvador Renobell Bosch va néixer a Barcelona el 1967, per motius familiars es traslladà a Premià de Dalt quan tenia quinze anys. Amb estudis parcials d’economia, es llicencià en publicitat el 1994, però no reeixí laboralment potser a causa de la «ruta del bacallà», a la qual s’apuntà amb entusiasme durant massa temps i de la qual en derivaren estades a sanatoris i un diagnòstic de medicació intensa.
Adrià Targa (Tarragona, 1987) és llicenciat en Filologia Clàssica per la Universitat de Barcelona i actualment cursa els estudis de Direcció Escènica i Dramatúrgia a l’Institut del Teatre. Ha publicat, en poesia, L’exili de Constança (2008) i Boques en calma (2010), premi Gabriel Ferrater de Sant Cugat. És també coautor de la cantata infantil Amics de pedra (2014) i ha col·laborat amb els seus poemes en la trilogia teatral Silent city (2014) per al Teatre Glej de Ljubljana, Eslovènia. És membre de l’Escola de Lletres de Tarragona i professor al seu taller estable de creació literària.
Gertrude Stein (Allegheny, Pennsylvania, 1874 – Paris, 1946) was an American writer, although she spent most of his life in France. She is considered to have been the catalyst of modern art and avant-garde literature. In Paris, her position allowed her to use her house as a meeting point between American and French intellectuals. As a poet, she is known for innovating and experimenting with language. Author of the famous verse “Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose”, her poetry is collected in over twenty books.