Biography

First of all, WELCOME to this website.

Inside, you'll find a description of, and comments on, all my books published in Catalan (starting with the latest); all the co-authored books, which are also in Catalan; the one book I've published in Spanish; and two books which are in English and are still looking for a publisher. Downloadable pdfs of whole texts or extracts are available in some cases. I will be adding more and more pdfs as time goes on, so that, with luck, much of the work done so far will be freely available.

Should you wish to pay for any of these books, though, do please feel very, very free to do so: the links section includes the website addresses of a host of bookshops around the Catalan-speaking areas, and also one (recommended) virtual bookshop: llibres.cat.

Also available here, in chronological order, are a bunch of articles published over the last fifteen years or so in various Catalan - and some British - newspapers and magazines. These articles have been carefully selected with the exception of those published in the English-language weekly Catalonia Today, absolutely all of which have been included.

Should you wish to get in touch, there is a contact link provided. However, those wishing to insult me or send me death threats should bear in mind that they have to enter a valid email address in order to send a message, so that I can either answer back as I see fit, or forward the message in question directly to the Catalan police.

Below is a short third-person biography. A more detailed biography can be found in Catalan in the book 'Memòries!' (2004) and in English in the unpublished book 'Calling Card' (2006).


Matthew Tree was born in London in 1958. He taught himself Catalan in 1979. He came to live in Barcelona in 1984. He began publishing in 1989, with texts written directly into Catalan. In English he has written the novel, 'Private Country', and a recently completed non-fiction book, 'Calling Card'.

He has published:
'Fora de lloc', Cafè Central-EUMO, Barcelona, 1996. Novel. Two editions.
'Ella ve quan vol'. Edicions 3i4, Valencia; Premi Octubre de Narrativa Award 1999. Short stories. Two editions.
'CAT. Un anglès viatja per Catalunya per veure si existeix'. Ed. Columna, Barcelona, 2000. Subjective chronicle of a journey round Catalonia. Seven editions.
'Privilegiat', Ed. Columna, Barcelona; won the Columna Award 2001. Novel. Two editions. Also published in Spanish as 'Privilegiado', Muntaner Editors, Barcelona, 2001. Extracts from the English version ('Private Country'), were published in The Dalhousie Review (Canada) and The Edinburgh Review (Scotland).
'Memòries! 1974-1989. Dels quinze anys fins als trenta. Londres-Barcelona.' Ed. Columna, Barcelona 2004. Autobiography. Two editions.
'Contra la monarquia'. Ed. Ara Llibres, Barcelona 2004. Anti-monarchical diatribe. Two editions.
'Aniversari. Quatre reflexions sense cap mena d'importància després de passar exactament vint anys entre els catalans'. Ed. Columna, Barcelona 2005. Essay. Two editions.
'La puta feina'. Ara Llibres, Barcelona 2006. Diatribe about incompetent, heartless or downright malevolent bosses and companies. Two editions.
'La vida després de Déu' Ed. Ara Llibres, 2007. A personal attack on organised religion. Three editions.
'Negre de merda. El racisme explicat als blancs'. Ed. Columna Edicions, 2010. A personal essay on racism.

He was a member of the successful Germans Miranda ('Miranda Brothers') collective and contributed a story to each of their six books. which have been on the themes of sex, football, politics and love: 'Aaaaaaagh' (1998); 'El Barça o la vida' (1999); 'Tocats d'amor' (2000); 'Contes per a nenes dolentes' (2001), 'La vida sexual dels germans M' (2002), 'Adéu, Pujol!' (2003. All published by Columna (Barcelona). He has also contributed long non-fiction pieces to two books about Barcelona: Què fas aquest diumenge?' ed. La Magrana, Barcelona, 2002, and 'Barcelona Acròstic' (a text also published in English and Spanish), Ed. Destino/Barcelona City Council, Barcelona, 2002. Recently, he has contributed a short story to the collection 'Contes coordinats' (Ed. Montflorit, Barcelona 2006) proceeds from which go directly to the Multiple Sclerosis Foundation, Barcelona. Another short story has been published in the collection 'Contes per parlar' (Ed. Generalitat de Catalunya, Barcelona, 2006). The children's story 'Berta, la ben educada', was published in the collection 'L'hora del conte' (La Galera, Barcelona, 2006), proceeds from which go to a Barcelona children's hospital.

He is a current contributor to the following publications: Catalonia Today, the AVUI newspaper, La Directa and the Times Literary Supplement.

Broadcasting:
He works regularly with Catalunya Ràdio and Ràdio 4. The second series of 'Passatgers', an infotainment programme which he scripts and presents, was released on TV3 (Catalan Public Television) in 2006.

Over the last fifteen years he has given numerous public readings of his work in dozens of venues around Catalonia, Valencia and Majorca.

Agent:
Antonia Kerrigan Literary Agency
antonia@antoniakerrigan.com
www.antoniakerrigan.com