Francesc Miralles
Francesc Miralles Contijoch (born on 27 August 1968) is a Spanish writer, essayist, translator and musician.
Miralles, son of a modist, and his father a renowned administrator, was born on 27 August 1968 in Barcelona, Spain. Having studied during eight years at a catholic school in la Ribera -next to the Palau de la Música-, when he decided to continue his formation by doing secondary school at the former ALMI and at the IES Montserrat.
Despite his bad high-school records he got to ingress at the faculty of Journalism at the UAB (Autonomic University of Barcelona), but finally he desisted after four months. That year he worked as a waiter in Les Puces del Barri Gótic, a bar located in carrer Montsió where he learnt to play the piano.
Once again at the university, one year later he started English Philology, and he worked in precary jobs as a teacher of languages at the same time. After 5 years of apathy, he was at a standstill the third year and he abandon the studies again.
Suffering since he was 17 by the syndrome of the traveler man, he decided to leave it all to roam himself around the world. An amount of casualties turned out he lived in Croatia and Slovenia during the Balcan Wars, history that would be related years after in his book "Cafè Balcànic" (Balkan Café).
When he came back to Barcelona, he retook his academical life but, this time, in Germanic Philology at Central college. Finished the degree, he did a postgraduate for editors. His ingress in the editorial world had started just the year before, as a translator from German to English of books about spirituality and alternative therapies.
Immediately after, he was hired as an editor by a house in self-help books. There he managed different collections as well as writing all kind of works using a pseudonym. Thirteen months sullied with incidents that replaced the military service he had not done; it would be all related some time afterwards in Barcelona Blues, his first novel in Spanish.
After leaving the publisher, he promised to himself never to work at a company again. He decided to try his luck with the young adult novel “A Haiku for Alice”, which won the big prize Gran Angular collection in 2001/02. Since then he is mainly writing, besides working as a literary consultant at several publishers and at an agency.
Another young adult published books are “El Quinto Mago” (The Fifth Wizard) and “Alison Blix” and “El Cuaderno de Aroha” (Aroha’s Notebook), two novels set in the background of fine magic, besides Retrum, a young adult story which has been translated into eight languages and connected through Los Pálidos (The Pale Beings), a gothic-inspired urban tribe, with the later trilogy called Øblivion.
In autumn 2009 he won along with Alex Rovira the Torrevieja prize thanks to his adult novel called “La Última Respuesta” (The Last Answer). Along with the same co-author who also is a friend of him, Francesc Miralles published “El Laberinto de la Felicidad” (The Labyrinth of Happiness) and “Un Corazón lleno de Estrellas” (A Heart full of Stars) and “El Bosque de la Sabiduría” (The Forest of Wisdom) which had been translated into more than twelve languages.
The novel “El Mejor Lugar del Mundo es Aquí Mismo” (The Best Place in the World is Right Here) (2008), written along with Care Santos, has been translated into a similar number of languages.
Within his adult novels written by him highlights "Ojalá estuvieras Aquí" (Wish You were Here) (2009), a melancholy story full of love and mystery. Some experiences lived with his band called Hotel Guru are collected in this novel as well as the artistic atmosphere of l'Astorbari, a bar where live concerts are performed at el Barrio de Gràcia.
“Amor en minúscula” (Love in Lower-Case Letters), which has already been translated into twenty languages, will be continued this spring eight years later with a novel called Wabi-Sabi, a story about the beauty of imperfection and the ephemeral.
After a break with his band Nikosia, which has released four albums, nowadays he is dedicated both to literature and journalism -he writes monthly for El País Semanal and Mente Sana- and combines them with his work as a literary Sherpa.
He's the author of several self-help books and several novels, including "Perdut a Bombai" (Lost in Bombay/Mumbai) (2001), winner of the Gran Angular Award "Un haiku per l'Alícia" (A Haiku for Alice) (2002), "El somni d'Occident" (The Dream of the West) (2002), "Café balcànic" (Balkan Café) (2004), Jet Lag (2006), Barcelona Blues (2004), "Amor en minúscula" (Love in Lower-Case Letters) (2006), "Columna Jove Award winner Interrail" (2007), "El viaje de Índigo" (Indigo's Journey) (2007), "El cuarto reino" (The Fourth Kingdom) (2008), "La profecía 2013" (The 2013 Prophecy) (2008), "Ojalá estuvieras aquí" (Wish You Were Here) (2009), Retrum (2009), and "El llegat de Judes" (The Legacy of Judas), written in collaboration with Joan Bruna (2010).
His non-fiction works include "Barcelona romántica" (Romantic Barcelona) (2004), "La Barcelona insólita" (Unlikely Barcelona) (2005), "L'autoajuda al descobert" (Self-Help Uncovered) (2006), "Conversaciones sobre la felicidad" (Conversations about Happiness) (2007), and "El laberinto de la felicidad" (The Labyrinth of Happiness) (2007), written in collaboration with Álex Rovira and already translated to ten languages.
As a musician, he has published a disc, Hotel Guru, in 2007.
As a translator, he has translated juvenile works by Henning Mankell, such as "Viatge a la fi del món" (Journey to the End of the World) and "El noi que dormia a la neu" (The Boy who Slept in the Snow), both of them in 2007, from Swedish into Catalan.
In 2009, he won the eighth edition of the Premio de Novela Ciudad de Torrevieja, with Álex Rovira, for his play "La última respuesta" (the Last Answer).
Since 2012, it is the romain "La luz de Alejandría" (The Light of Alejandría), written together with Álex Rovira.
Stories in collective books
Bleak House Inn. "Diez huéspedes en casa de Dickens" (Ten hosts in Dickens house). Stories of Pilar Adón, Elia Barceló, Oscar Esquivias, Marc Gual, César Mallorquí, Ismael Martínez Biurrun, Elena Medel, Francesc Miralles, Daniel Sánchez Pardos and Marian Womack. Care Santos editing and epilogue. Madrid: Fábulas de Albión, 2012 "La audición" (The Audition) (a tale abount Josef von Sternberg & Marlene Dietrich, in VV.AA., "Ellos y ellas" (Guys and Dols) "Relaciones de amor, lujuria y odio entre directores y estrellas" (Love, Luxury and Hate Relationships between Directions and Stars) (co-editors: Hilario J. Rodríguez and Carlos Tejeda). Calamar Ediciones /Festival de Cine de Huesca, 2010.
References
El diario de Aroha Retrum 2; La nieve negra Amor en minúscula Ojalá estuvieras aquí Barcelona Blues El secreto de Picasso El legado de Judas La última respuesta La profecía 2013 El cuarto reino 365 ideas para cambiar tu vida El mapa del tesoro El bosque de la sabiduría Un corazón lleno de estrellas El mejor lugar del mundo es aquí mismo El laberinto de la felicidad Conversaciones sobre la felicidad El zen de la empresa El lector de Hesse El lector de Kafka Oblivion: Un cielo tras otro Oblivion 2: Tormenta de estrellas Alison Blix, los mundos perdidos El quinto mago El circulo ámbar y las caras de Belmez El círculo ámbar y las voces de Stonehenger El círculo ámbar y los mandalas de Ávalon La vida es una suave quemadura El viaje de Índigo Mika en el Egipto de los faraones Mika en la antigua Grecia Mika en la India de los Budas El llibre de l'hivern