MRS. CARMEN BALCELLS SEGALÀ

Literary Agent

Born in Santa Fe de Segarra (Lleida province) on 9 August 1930, she began working as a correspondent in Barcelona of the ACER literary agency, owned by the Romanian writer Vintilă Horia. This writer subsequently moved to Paris, leading Carmen Balcells to found her own agency, which started out by managing the translation rights of foreign authors. Later, Luis Goytisolo would be the first Spanish author to be represented by the Carmen Balcells Literary Agency and he was followed by a long list of other prominent writers. The Balcells Agency represents four Nobel Laureates in Literature: Neruda, García Márquez, Cela and Aleixandre.

After receiving the Gold Medal of Fine Arts and being made Doctor Honoris Causa by the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), Carmen Balcells announced her retirement in May of the year 2000 after almost forty years of professional activity. Eight years later, in 2008, she resumed her activity and continues to manage her agency at present.

Carmen Balcells is the most celebrated literary agent in the world of Spanish-language literature. This standing has earned her numerous distinctions, including the Barcelona Medal of Honour (1997), the Medal for Artistic Merit (2000) granted by the Barcelona City Council, the St. George Cross of the Generalitat of Catalonia (2006) and the Montblanc Woman Prize (2006).