What the critics say...

Mataró, 1977. Writer and translator

Bel Olid is skilful in her approach to the genre of storytelling, what she describes as her "natural habitat" and which she presents as a way of processing, contemplating and coming to terms with everything that is around her, concerns her and unsettles her. Written over the course of the past four years, this collection of sixteen stories completes an era. Olid explores moments of individual and collective crisis. [...] Olid seeks to unearth the power lurking in the depths of those characters that are often not obviously remarkable at first glance. Characters – mostly women and representative of a broad range of nationalities and age groups – that are, on the whole, ignored by fiction. The author believes that "life outside the mainstream is more interesting in literary terms". [...]

If there is one element that is ever present in Bel Olid's literature, it is the sea. Leaving aside the biographical references, the sea becomes a force with its own, fluctuating voice in her stories. The author points to its ambivalent presence. And I can think of no better summary of the collection than: like a typical and familiar libertarian home, it is charming and comforting on the one hand; like a vast abyss of violence and danger, it is exhilarating and disturbing on the other.

Júlia Sentís. “Bel Olid, contra els vents més salvatges”, Núvol (24/04/2016).

I don't think I'd be wrong in saying that Bel Olid's youth benefitted from a sound literary foundation covering all periods and cultures. Some stories breathe the literary ambience of
Trabal and Calders, some feature echoes of Kafka. A direct, raw, surprising voice which is strong enough for more ambitious creations.

The subject of sex is at the heart of most of the stories in which the author discusses almost everything that could possibly be concealed beneath what is thought of as a human being's good reputation. The common theme is a sexual fury that always seems to far exceed any sentiment. The contradictory reactions of each character form the final note that completes the story.

Jordi Capdevila. “L’instint bàsic humà”, Avui Cultura (16/11/2012).

The novel [Una terra solitària (A Solitary Land)] is written in prose that is both nimble and fresh and captivates the reader from the outset, turning the novel into a delight interspersed here and there with its own Catalan soundtrack that is a review of more contemporary music and that sometimes serves as a unifying medium for a specific story – that of the adult couple – with the aim of rooting it in the present. [...]

Olid masterfully weaves the three voices and their progress into short chapters, demonstrating a more than evident mastery of the measured revelation of information. The reader cannot stop reading because, in the end, what they want – and this is the novel's greatest strength – is to know what happens to the girl protagonist, but also to the woman who takes her family on a journey across the whole of Spain and the two adult women who strive to pursue a seemingly highly complex relationship. That is to say, Olid has managed to create a perfectly formed novel, in which, under the guise of simple prose and an interesting structure, she captures the reader's interest to express what she wants to say, which is no mean feat. Because this is a novel that, in the main, concerns itself with survival and courage. [...] In addition to the value of survival and strength, it is a novel that reveals the redemptive role of culture and reading, as it is this element that differentiates the adult and final woman from her ancestors.

Sebastià Bennasar. “Un debut engrescador”, dBalears. L’Espira (23/04/2011).

What the author says...

My literary objective is based on aesthetics. I want to write about beautiful and terrible things. These two poles, that which is terrible and that which is beautiful, are often the same thing. If nothing else, to be able to portray something that is terrible in a beautiful way. If not, it is even harder. If there's a reality we don't want to see, if we don't portray it in a beautiful way, it makes it impossible. I want to write literature, I don't want to write pamphlets. For me, creating literature means a desire for beauty and also beauty as a weapon to fight against the impotence I mentioned earlier. Being able to find that red star in the stormy sky.

Interview for Vilaweb (22/04/2016).

For me, translation is a very important exercise because it allows me to learn to identify what I really want to say. Giving myself many hats makes me versatile; I can disguise myself as someone else and try to adopt their outward appearance and that helps me to appreciate what I am and what I am not.

Interview for Directa.cat (24/01/2017).