Song of Youth

Montserrat Roig i Fransitorra (Barcelona, June 13, 1946 – November 10, 1991) was a Catalan writer of novels, short stories and articles. In 1970, Roig won the Víctor Català prize for Molta roba i poc sabó... i tan neta que la volen, a compilation of short stories, and began to dedicate herself to writing literature. She began a literary cycle composed of works such as Ramona adéu (1972), which portrays three generations of women – grandmother, mother and daughter – who live their own stories with key moments in Catalan history as a background, or El temps de les cireres (1977), starring the same characters, for which Roig received the "Premi Sant Jordi de novel·la" in 1976.She later published L'òpera quotidiana (1982), La veu melodiosa (1987) and a compilation of short stories with the title El cant de la joventut (1989). The last of her publications was Digues que m'estimes encara que sigui mentida (1991), where she conveys personal poetry as a literary will.Montserrat Roig was a member of the Association of Catalan Language Writers (Associació d'Escriptors en Llengua Catalana) and vice-president of its Junta Territorial del Principat de Catalunya (Territorial Committee of the Catalan Principality) (1989–1990).She worked as a lecturer in Catalan and Spanish at the University of Bristol, England during the academic year 1972–1973. From January to April 1983, she taught Catalan history and creative writing at the Department of Hispanic and Latin American Studies of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, by invitation of the Carnegie Foundation. From January to June 1990, she taught twentieth-century Spanish literature and creative writing at the University of Arizona.

‘Montserrat Roig, before her untimely death, was a shining light of Catalan literature. The stories in ‘The Song of Youth’ show her at her most urgent, energetic and inventive. While most of the stories are clearly set in the Catalonia of the 1970s and 1980s, they also have the quality of timeless fable.’— Colm Tóibín‘Although covering numerous challenging topics, the stories are relatable in the characters that populate each page. The writing flows easily, maintaining an engaging pace. There is depth as well as humour, a poignancy in the unflinching portrayal of how people judge both others and themselves. A deftly written collection of short form fiction that I am glad to have read.’— Jackie Law, Never Imitate blog. Full review HERE‘Montserrat Roig is one of far too many women authors whose work has taken far too long to be translated into English. These stories, in this excellent translation, will introduce readers to a remarkable writer, who, though not always comfortable to read, is always searingly honest.’— Margaret Jull Costa, three-times winner of the Oxford-Weidenfeld Translation Prize‘The Song of Youth represents an array of lagoons in which Montserrat Roig’s most extraordinary flowers lay their roots.’— Eva Baltasar, author of Permafrost‘Gracefully translated and filled with stark beauty, this multi-layered collection is complex yet enthralling, and, with time, only keeps on giving.’— Eleanor Updegraff, The Monthly Booking‘Roig’s writing (and Miller’s translation) has a rhythm and engagement to each story, with character’s feeling vividly realised and fully formed. Stories that take 10 pages are just as engaging as stories that take two: it’s an incredibly interesting book.’— Seren McKeever, Buzz Magazine‘Roig’s writing leaves the reader with a vivid sense of time and place, but also invites them to consider how quickly real lives become fable, how easily we absorb war, oppression and pain into our collective memory. The effect of this is both soothing and unsettling, but perhaps this is where the acute sense of power in Roig’s work lies; in remembering things as they really were, on both a personal and political level, in all of their pain and beauty.’— Claire Carroll, Lunate Magazine‘In two decades of incredible, inspirational writing, Montserrat Roig left an indelible mark on Catalan literature that is finally being brought to the international community.’— Jordi Nopca, author of Come On Up