Books to tell the story of..
The daughter of troubadours, Andorran literature only really began to be written in the 18th century with Antoni Fiter i Rossel, a priest and lawyer born in Ordino in 1706, who at the age of 42 gave birth to a work with an interminable title that is usually reduced to its first two words, Manual Digest, or - more prosaically - to its nickname: Bible of Andorra. The Manual Digest 's reputation went beyond the borders of the principality, as it is one of the most important books in the Catalan language at the time. The original manuscript is jealously guarded in the author's birthplace, while two copies are carefully kept under lock and key in Andorra la Vella and La Seu d'Urgell.
Andorra in the 19th century was hardly accessible to travellers, but it was from this isolation that its moderation and virtue were born, as Pierre-Roch de Roussillou (1785-1874) liked to recall in a small booklet published at the beginning of the century, when he had no idea that ten years later he would become the first viguier (magistrate) of the principality to be dismissed by decision of the French government, which was annexing the country at the time. Other authors, both natives and visitors, described the people and places during the 19th century, including Tomàs Junoy, a monk from Anyòs, the Spaniard Francisco Zamora, Henri Castillon d'Aspet, Louis Boucoiran and Xavier Campillo.
... and a literature to dream
The 20th century, and more particularly its second half, saw the emergence of fiction, first of all in a genre that was popular in oral form and then became established in written form, the legend, particularly thanks to the collection published by Ricard Fiter in 1966. This work of collection, begun beforehand by a few precursors, including Joan Pere Salarich and Mossèn Jaume, who had both delivered their version of the myth of the White Lady, is precious because it freezes the heritage of a people, something that the principality readily recognises, and in 1980 it awarded Sergi Mas a literary prize for Cassigalls, a collection of twelve stories. Manuel Anglada i Ferran (1918-1998) published Históries i relats pirinencs in 1989, and initiated the creation of the Andorran Centre for Catalan Culture. Finally, Josep Enric Dallerès, born in 1949, will return to the tradition of fantasy stories with Ulls d'Aigua, a story in which pregnant women are condemned to turn into water, unless... This author, who reinvented himself as a publisher in 2007, is also renowned for his poetry(33 poems in 1974, Eighty-two days in October in 2018, etc.), another genre appreciated by Andorrans.), another genre appreciated by Andorrans, as confirmed by the great success of Natàlia Sola (Intensament blancs i grocs), Robert Pastor(Quadern d'Arans), Joan Reguant(Terra segellada) or Ester Fenoll(Esmorzar perfecte).
From the 1990s onwards, novelists gradually found their place, as the government supported the development of a local literature. Three names stand out: Albert Salvadó (1951-2020), who dabbled in all styles - essays, children's literature, science fiction - before winning a number of awards when he explored the historical vein; Albert Villaró, born in La Seu d'Urgell in 1964. Discovered by a Barcelona publishing house in 2001 with Las ànimes sordes, he has since been awarded the Josep Pla Prize in 2014 for Els ambaixadors; Teresa Colom, who was born in 1973 and who, initially a poet (On tot és vidre), discovered herself as an almost gothic novelist with Jacqueline Chambon publishing in 2020 with a fascinating collection, Mademoiselle Keaton et autres créatures
