Mercè Rodoreda (1908–1983), the great Catalan novelist and storywriter, spent a brief but intense period writing poetry. In exile from Spain, and following difficult years in war-torn France, she wrote several sonnet sequences. The experience influenced the development of her narrative style when, after moving to Switzerland, she worked painstakingly on a new novel. Translated as both Time of the Doves and In Diamond Square, La plaça del Diamant (1962) opened the period of her most acclaimed writings and has become a classic of Catalan and Spanish literature. In 1980 she received the Premi d’Honor de les Lletres Catalanes, Catalan literature’s highest award for lifetime achievement. (updated 4/2024)