Catalonia's first permanent booktown to celebrate third anniversary with 'great storytelling party'

Catalonia's first permanent booktown will celebrate its third anniversary with a "great storytelling party" between December 5-15. 

'Calonge, poble de llibres' will bring exhibitions, shows, workshops, presentations, readings and a music and writing jam session to Calonge i Sant Antoni, a Costa Brava municipality that is home to seven bookstores. 

With the motto 'Un aniversari de conte' ('A legendary birthday'), the celebrations will be concentrated on the two weekends. 

The first weekend, December 6-8, will be focused on children's books and young adult literature, including performances and workshops related to two of Catalan children's literature's bestsellers: 'The Colour Monster: The Feelings Doctor' by Anna Llenas, and 'A Terrific House' by Meritxell Martí and Xavier Salomó. 

The second weekend, December 14-15, is aimed at adults, with talks, presentations, and even a jam session, bringing together the art of creating live stories (Jordi Campoy, Albert Pijuan, Irene Pujades and Víctor García Tur) with music from Defensa Lenta, the new project Pau Rodríguez (Za!). 

Authors set to visit the town in Baix Empordà county also include Roser Capdevila, Artur Laperla, Coaner Codina, Martí Gironell, Marc Artigau, Víctor García Tur, and Guillem Terribas. 

Calonge booktown 

The Calonge booktown is made up of various bookstores with different characteristics, with books in Catalan and Spanish, as well as other languages such as English, French, German and Italian. 

Calonge is Catalonia's first permanent booktown, joining a movement that began in the Welsh village of Hay-on-Wye in the 1970s.