Monzó, Quim, 1952-

Joaquim Monzó i Gómez (born 15 March 1952), also known as Quim Monzó (Catalan pronunciation: [ˈkim munˈso]), 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 was one of the members of the Catalan literary collective, Ofèlia Dracs. 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.