book festival

On the 23^rd of April, Catalans celebrate the day of their patron saint, Jordi (Saint George). The day is Catalonia's equivalent to Valentine's Day in the Anglo-Saxon world but it is also a day that pays homage to worldwide literature and reading. Men and women offer books and roses to those they love: relatives, friends, work colleagues and particularly to lovers and partners. Every year introduces twists to the tradition with 2015 presenting the 'TecnoRose' amongst other innovative designs. In addition, many authors spend the day touring around to give readers signed copies of their books. The amount of books sold this year is expected to follow the success and exceed the sales of 2014. 'El món blau. Estima el teu caos' by Albert Espinosa and 'La templanza' by Maria Dueñas are predicted to be among the bestsellers.

The crime literary festival BCNegra will celebrate its 10^th anniversary in Barcelona from 29^th January to 7^th February with distinguished authors, such as the British and American thriller writers Anne Perry and Sue Grafton, as well as the Scottish author Philip Kerr. This year’s edition, with a 40% increase in its budget, which rises to €140,000, will be held for the first time at the Liceu Conservatory and will offer more than 50 activities. The event will gather together almost 70 renowned writers from all around the world and will award the Spanish crime fiction author, Alicia Giménez Bartlett, with the 10^th Pepe Carvalho Prize, named after the famous detective created by Barcelona-born Manuel Vázquez Montalbán.