Background
Marsé was born Juan Faneca Roca in Barcelona. His mother died in childbirth, and he was soon adopted by the Marsé family.
Marsé was born Juan Faneca Roca in Barcelona. His mother died in childbirth, and he was soon adopted by the Marsé family.
At age 14 he started to publish some of his writings in Insula magazine and in a cinema magazine while working as an apprentice jeweller. Afterwards, he spent two years in Paris working as "garçon de laboratoire" at the Pasteur Institute and translating screenplays and teaching Spanish. Back in Spain he wrote Esta cara de la luna (This Side of the Moon), repudiated and never included in his complete works.
In 1974, he started a column in the magazine Por Favor while continuing writing for the film industry.
He wrote two novels about post-war Barcelona, Un día volveré (One Day I"ll Come Back) and Ronda del Guinardó, followed by the collection of short stories, Teniente Bravo. In 1997 he was awarded the Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature.
On 6 March 2014 MacLehose Press will publish The Calligraphy of Dreams. The Dark History of Cousin Montse (Jordi Cadena, 1977)
Girl with the Golden Panties (Vicente Aranda, 1980)
Last evening with Teresa (Gonzalo Herralde, 1984)
If you say that I fell (Vicente Aranda, 1989)
The Bilingual Lover (Vicente Aranda, 1993)
Domenica (Wilma Labate, 2001) - adapted by Guinardó Round
The Shanghai Spell (Fernando Trueba, 2002)
Lolita"s Club (Vicente Aranda, 2007).