Almudena Grandes

Almudena Grandes was born on 7 May 1960 in Madrid, Spain. She began writing when she was nine and obtained a degree in Geography and History at the Complutense University of Madrid. She worked as a writer for encyclopedias and tourist guides before publishing her first novel Las edades de Lulú in 1989, an erotic novel that won La Sonrisa Vertical prize and was adapted into a film by Bigas Luna. She became one of the most popular and acclaimed Spanish writers, with her novels translated into more than twenty languages and often adapted to cinema or television. She wrote about the Spanish reality of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, with a focus on women's experiences, historical memory and social criticism. Some of her most famous novels are Te llamaré Viernes, Malena es un nombre de tango, Atlas de geografía humana, Los aires difíciles, Castillos de cartón, El corazón helado and Los pacientes del doctor García. She also wrote short stories, essays and columns for El País newspaper. She won several awards for her literary work, such as the National Literature Prize for Narrative, the Prix Méditerranée and the Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize. She was married to the poet Luis García Montero and had three children from a previous marriage. She died of cancer on 27 November 2021 at her home in Madrid.