Manuel Vázquez Montalbán

Manuel Vázquez Montalbán (14 June 1939–18 October 2003) was a prolific Spanish writer from Barcelona: journalist, novelist, poet, essayist, anthologue, prologist, humorist, critic and political prisoner as well as a gastronome and a FC Barcelona supporter. Vázquez Montalbán was born in Barcelona on 14 June 1939. His parents did not register his birth until 27 July; many sources show 27 July or 14 July as his birth date. He studied Philosophy at the Autonomous University of Barcelona and was also a member of the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia. He spent 18 months in prison after attending a 1962 miner's strike. He began writing poetry in 1967. He is one of the Novísimos from Jose María Castellet. His poetic works until 1986 are collected in Memoria y deseo ("Memory and desire"). The same characteristic features of his poetry appear in his novels. Los mares del Sur, part of the Pepe Carvalho series, won the Planeta Award in 1979, bringing fame for both the writer and the fictiona...