Quim Monzó

Joaquim Monzó i Gómez, also known as Quim Monzó (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈkim munˈso]) (born 24 March 1952 in Barcelona, Spain), is a contemporary Spanish writer of novels, short stories and discursive prose, mostly in Catalan. In the early 1970s, Monzó reported from Vietnam, Cambodia, Northern Ireland and East Africa for the Barcelona newspaper Tele/eXpres. He lives in Barcelona and publishes regularly in La Vanguardia.
His fiction is characterized by an awareness of pop culture and irony. His other prose maintains this humor. One collection of his essays, Catorze ciutats comptant-hi Brooklyn, is notable for its account of New York City in the days immediately following September 11. In collaboration with Cuca Canals, he wrote the dialogue for Bigas Luna's Jamón, jamón. He has also written El tango de Don Joan, with Jérôme Savary.
In 2007 he wrote and read the opening speech at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the year in which Catalan culture was the guest. Monzó designed an acclaimed lecture written as if it were a short story, thus differing completely from a traditional speech. From December 2009 to April 2010 there took place in the Arts Santa Mònica Gallery in Barcelona a great retrospective exhibition on his life and his work, called Monzó.

He has also translated a large number of authors, including Truman Capote, J.D. Salinger, Ray Bradbury, Thomas Hardy, Harvey Fierstein, Ernest Hemingway, John Barth, Roald Dahl, Mary Shelley, Javier Tomeo, Arthur Miller, and Eric Bogosian.

Monzó has been diagnosed with Tourette syndrome.

• Margarida Casacuberta and Marina Gustà (ed.): De Rusiñol a Monzó: humor i literatura. Barcelona: Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat, 1996, ISBN 84-7826-695-X
• Christian Camps and Jordi Gàlvez (ed.): Quim Monzó. Montpellier: Université Paul Valéry, 1998. ISBN 978-2-84269-186-8 LO
• Antoni Mestres: Humor i persuasió: l’obra periodística de Quim Monzó. Alicante: Universitat d'Alacant, 2006. ISBN 84-611-1107-9
• Julià Guillamon (ed.): Monzó. Com triomfar a la vida. Barcelona: Galàxia Gutenberg / Cercle de Lectors, 2009, ISBN 978-84-8109-847-1. This is a book catalog published on the occasion of the exhibition devoted to the life and work of author (Arts Santa Mònica, Barcelona, between December 2009 and April 2010).