João Soares de Paiva was a Portuguese poet (trovador) and nobleman; often recognised as the first author in the Galician-Portuguese language. He held lands in northern Portugal near the falls of the river Paiva and also in Aragon, near Monzón, Tudela, and Pamplona, near the border with Navarre, as fiefs of the King of Aragon. While the Aragonese sovereign was in Provence, João's Aragonese territories were invaded by Sancho VII of Navarre. He wrote a cantiga d'escarnho entitled Ora faz ost'o senhor de Navarra attacking the king of Navarre for this.
João Ubaldo Ribeiro was a Brazilian writer, journalist, screenwriter and professor. Several of his books and short stories have been turned into movies and TV series in Brazil. Ribeiro was a member of the Brazilian Academy of Letters, being elected in 1994. At the time of his death many considered him to be Brazil's greatest contemporary novelist.
Joaquim Amat-Piniella was a Catalan writer. He is best known for his semi-autobiographic novel K.L. Reich, based on his experience as a prisoner in the Mauthausen concentration camp during the Second World War.
Joaquín Dicenta Benedicto (1862–1917) was a Spanish journalist, novelist, playwright, poet and Republican politician. His 1895 play Juan José, whose representation became a staple of every May Day, was the second-most performed in the Spanish repertory between 1895 and 1939.