Manel Forcano is a poet and translator with a PhD in Semitic Philology from the University of Barcelona where he worked as a Professor of Hebrew, Aramaic, and History of the Near East.  He is a member of the Advisory Council of the IEMED.

Notable among his translations from Hebrew, Arabic, English, and French are the anthology Clavats a la Carn del Món by Yehuda Amichai (2001), Els Viatges d’Ibn Battuta (The Travels of Ibn Battuta, Proa, 2005), La Descripció del Món by Marco Polo (The Description of the World, Proa, 2009), and El Carrer del Perdó from Moroccan writer Mahi Binebine (Angle 2021). 

As a poet, his work, infused with sensuality and oriental and classic influence, has received various prizes such as Jocs Florals de Barcelona, Carles Riba, and the International Tivoli Europa Giovanni Award. He also wrote the book El Mar a la Mirada. Antologia de Textos Poètics de la Mediterrània, published by IEMed&Lundwerg, and various collections of poetry including Arabesc (Proa, 2022), A Tocar (Proa, 2019), Estàtues sense Cap (Proa 2013), Llei d’Estrangeria (Proa, 2008) and El Tren de Bagdad (Proa, 2003). He also published historical essays A Fil d’Espasa: les Croades Vistes pels Jueus (RBA, 2007) and Història de la Catalunya Jueva (City Council of Girona, 2010). He was Vice-President of CoNCA (Natural Council for Culture and Arts), Director of the Intergovernmental Consortium of Institut Ramon Llull (2016-2018) and is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jordi Savall International Ancient Music Centre Foundation and Catalunya La Pedrera Foundation.