Bill Sinclair (1955)

About me
Born in London, next door to a notorious prison, I’ve been on the run ever since – Malta, Manchester, Cheltenham, Cardiff, London.

After finishing my MA Creative Writing at Lancaster I jointly set up a multi-media theatre co-op and had lots of fun designing, building, animating and setting fire to things, blowing things up and setting off fireworks. I moved to the north-east, Saltburn and Durham, where I worked as an Arts Officer for 11 years – working with some very talented artists, choreographers, dancers, musicians, photographers and writers.

I then worked as a freelance imaginateur, project manager and fund-raising advisor.

Why Barcelona?
In 1980 a very good anarchist friend wrote me a postcard from Barcelona: “You’d love it here. You’d go bananas.” In 1981, a few months after Tejero’s failed coup, I visited Barcelona for the first time.

My friend was right – I did fall in love with the place, and I did go bananas. Over the years I visited Barcelona several times, each time finding something new, or uncovering something in its rich past, which fuelled an unhealthy fascination.

In 1995 I received an award from the Arts Council to visit Barcelona and Zaragoza to research George Orwell’s wife’s time during the Civil War.

But, in the end, I moved to this great city in 2003 not because of my love for the city and its people, but for the love of a good woman. I write, I translate, I show people around this “city of marvels”.

the people
the architecture
the love and respect for good food and drink
the sense of possibility

Where else can you find me online?
Bill in Barcelona

Check out the interview with me on the Spotted by Local’s blog