Carme Riera, professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, is one of the critics' and readers' best loved authors. She made her first appearance in 1975 with Te dejo, amor, el mar como prenda. Outstanding amongst her novels is En el último azul (1994, awarded the Josep Pla, Nacional de Narrativa, Crexells, Lletra d'Or and the Vittorini prize for the best foreign novel published in Italy in 2000), Hacia el cielo abierto (2000, Crítica Serra d'Or Prize), La mitad del alma (2003, Sant Jordi Prize), El verano del inglés (2006) and Con ojos americanos (2009). Her work has been translated into several languages