For the compilation of information, the human and organisational infrastructure has been similar to that of the first edition of Qui és qui a les lletres catalanes(Who’s Who in Catalan Letters). The information which can be consulted now uses as its starting point the database existing in the ILC since 1991, has been updated through the questionnaires sent to authors in 1998 and 1999, and completed from consultations to correspondents in particular thematic or geographic areas, publishers, and writers’ associations, and other sources of information.

Since it is to be consulted on the Web, this Who’s Who is conceived somehow differently from the 1991 book edition. It is understood as a tool for communication. Useful in itself for whoever wishes to consult it, it also aims to be a dynamic and living tool, and thus, is concerned to revise and correct errors or involuntary omissions that might have occurred in any of the phases of the project. It is also open to periodic updating to which authors themselves can contribute by giving information by telephone, in writing or by email: ilc2.cultura@gencat.cat. Moreover, the Web provides the possibility of establishing links with home pages of other institutions, associations or with individual pages of the authors themselves.

The printed edition of 1991 contained 1.118 files on living writers. The present edition introduces some changes in the criteria of inclusion and so on the directory of names of that first edition. New authors have, of course, been added. At present, it is already possible to consult 1982 , number that increases according as new data are compiled. The database is updated weekly.

It is important to emphasise that the new criteria for inclusion echo the standardising of the different channels of dissemination of Catalan literature over the last decade. According to the new criteria of inclusion now it is necessary to have published, premiered or circulated in professional circles, at least two works in one or other literary genre -- poetry, theatre, novel, short story, non-fictional prose or fictional scripts. Authors who write exclusively literary criticism specialising in writers, movements or literary studies are not included, though it is evident that the line separating them from those who write "creative" literary essays is tenuous. It should be understood that we are offering a compendium which aims to be exhaustive in the domain of "creative writing", and that this implies excluding other fields. In no case can exclusion be interpreted as fruit of a value judgement. In the cases of writers who have been included because their work fits under the heading of literary creation, we have also provided bibliographic details about their non-creative books since this is useful material for a closer study of their production. By way of illustration, renown literary critic like Joan Triadú, is now included in this Who’s Who for his collection of poems Endimió (1948), and for his prose pieces Collsacabra (1956); again, well-known Catalan scholars like Lola Badia, Josep Massot i Muntaner, Martí de Riquer, Vicent Simbor or Arthur Terry whose work is so representative of current trend in literary studies, are not found amongst the names which appear in this edition on the web. Examples of this sort of selection are multiple. Please consult, in any case, the criteria for inclusion.

Two exceptions have been made towards the criterion of having published, premiered or circulated in professional circles, two works in one or other of the literary genres. On the one hand for the writers from Alguer, because of the exceptional geographical isolation of their production; and on the other hand for authors born before 1940, at times when the Francoist dictatorship had practically banned all publishing in Catalan. A different exception has been made for collectives signing under a pseudonym: all those located are included here, even if they have only published one work. Information concerning writers who have died during the last decade (and who were included in the 1991 database of the first edition) may also be consulted if their work conforms to present criteria.

As happened in the 1991 book edition of the repertory, some authors have explicitly requested not appear in this compendium.

Barcelona, October 25th, 2000

Options (a) and (c) provide an alphabetical list of names from which one may go directly to the complete bio-bibliographic file of the selected author.

Option (b) supplies an alphabetical list of titles from whence one may request the complete information concerning the selected book, this including the author’s name, and from here one may also consult his or her complete bio-bibliographic file.

The system also offers a help tool from each of the above-mentioned options, which explains different ways of formulating the searches.

	Fictional scripts: circulated in commercial or professional circuits;
	Premiered theatrical works: Represented in commercial or professional circuits, either by a single author or a maximum of three authors;
	Books: Published by commercial or professional publishers, by a single author, a maximum of three authors, of more than 49 pages (except children’s books, poetry or dramatic works), with ISBN (subsequent to 1972), and which are included in any of the following literary genres: 1.  Poetry 2.  Theatre 3.  Novel 4.  Short stories 5.  Non-fictional prose (memoirs, diaries, biographies, literary portraits, travel writing, literary journalism -collected into book form-, literary criticism and the literary essay). Doctoral theses are not included and neither are other works of specialised research, critical editions on writers, textbooks and the like, prologues, articles in collective works and monographs in general. 6.  Fictional scripts 7.  Other (when it is creative work)

Director of the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes: Francesc Parcerisas
Literary Co-ordination: Lluïsa Julià
Technical Co-ordination: Mercè Loire
Editorial Team: Imma Estany, Albert Ibañez y Àurea Vila
Advisory Commission: Oriol Comas, Isidor Cònsul, Guillem-Jordi Graells, Oriol Izquierdo, Albert Manent, Ramon Pla i Arxé y Jaume Subirana
Correspondents for Geographic and Thematic Areas: Albert Aragonès, Antoni Arca, Josep Ballester, Carles Batlle, Salvador Cardús, Carles Cortès, Teresa Duran, Manuel García Grau, Teresa Llavata, Antoni Morell, Hèctor Moret, Vicenç Pagès, Ponç Pons, Ferran Rella, Jean Joseph Serra, Magí Sunyer, Caterina Valriu, Pere Verdaguer y Antoni Vidal Ferrando