literature

‘Canigó’ is regarded as one of the most outstanding works in Catalan literature. The epic poem was written by the 19^th century Catalan writer and leading figure of the Catalan renaissance movement, Jacint Verdaguer. Named after Mount Canigou, the poem is set in Catalonia at the beginning of the 11^th century at the time of the Reconquista, the gradual liberation by the Christians of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim rule. The poem tells the story of the young knight Gentil who left his fight against the Saracens for the love of Flordeneu, queen of the fairies. English engineer James William Millard had already published part of the poem in 2000 but ‘Mount Canigó. A tale of Catalonia’ by translator and professor at Universitat de Vic Ronald Puppo represents the first complete translation ever made. 

“Barcelona and Catalan literature will be the main focus” at the Warsaw Book Fair 2016, stated the Director of Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), which is a public institution in charge of promoting Catalan culture and language, Àlex Susanna. Next year it will be time to “set the coveted invitation” to the Bologna Book Fair, he added and declared that IRL is “working hard” on a possible “Catalan landing” in the multidisciplinary Edinburgh Festival in two years’ time. Susanna admitted to be optimistic regarding Catalan culture’s international projection and highlighted that this development coincided with the economic crisis.   

The Institut Ramon Llull (IRL) is a public body in charge of promoting Catalan culture and language abroad. On Thursday, "it expressed optimism for the first time" about a collaboration with the new Governments of Valencia and the Balearic Islands, both led by left-wing coalitions. The Director of the institute, Àlex Susanna, said that, following the May 2015 elections, "positive signs" are emerging but still could not confirm any conclusive agreement. According to him, the new political landscape opens a "great opportunity" to promote the international mobility of artists and intellectuals from Catalan-speaking territories. Asked about the new Head of Barcelona City Council – part of the consortium constituting the institute – Susanna said that he foresees "continuity" with the work of previous local Executives.

Like in 11 other countries around the world, Catalans celebrate their national patron saint, St. George the dragon-slayer, on the 23rd of April every year. In Catalonia, however, rather than an occasion entrenched in patriotism, Sant Jordi is revered as the lovers' day and the book's day, on which loved ones demonstrate their affection for one another with the exchange of roses and books. The sun is shining and the buzzing atmosphere that fills the streets means that just walking along Les Rambles is enough of an adventure on a Sant Jordi Day such as this one. Rose sales have exceeded those of last year by 7%. The best-selling books this year have been 'Algú com tu' by Xavier Bosch (fiction) and 'És l'hora del adéus' by Xavier Sala i Martín (non-fiction) in Catalan and 'Destino, la Templanza' by María Dueñas (fiction) and 'MasterChef. Grandes platos para todos los días' by Jordi Cruz (non-fiction) in Spanish. In total, 1.5 million books will have been sold by the end of the day.

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 33^rd edition of the Barcelona International Comic Fair opened its doors on Thursday. The event is an initiative organised by FICOMIC, a non-profit entity aimed at spreading comic and Japanese manga culture. This year it is taking place from the 16^th to the 19^th of April at the Fira de Barcelona’s Montjuïc venue. The fair has increased its exhibition surface from 32,000 square metres in 2014 to 36,000 this year, and the number of exhibitors has grown from 161 to 165. The Joker and Captain America will be among the main characters at the event and different genres of comics will be on display: from science fiction to heroic fantasy comics, through to humorous comics. In total, the event will host 19 exhibitions by national and international authors. Patrici Tixis, FICOMIC President, has declared that he hopes that the fair will attract 100.000 visitors in its 2015 edition.

This year is the 20^th anniversary of the death of Valencian singer Ovidi Montllor who, along with other artists, promoted Catalan music during the Franco dictatorship and the transition years to democracy. Though not well-known internationally, Montllor was an important figure in the Catalan music world and especially in the opposition to the dictatorship. Back then, he started to accompany his poems with music and those of renown Catalan poets like Joan Salvat-Papasseit. For this reason, throughout the year there will be a lot of events and tributes paid to him. One of these tributes is a book to be published in March written by Catalan writer Jordi Tormo made up of photographs, poems and a review of his career.

This year the Catalan Government wants to highlight a number of important events and personalities and its goal is to promote them internationally. One of the most important figures is Catalan writer Ramon Llull, who died 700 years ago. Ramon Llull was an important writer rom Mallorca, who is credited with writing the first major work of Catalan literature. Furthermore, he was one of the greatest thinkers and writers of the Middle-Ages in Europe and North Africa. Catalonia’s institute for culture and language promotion abroad is named after him.

The Catalan Government’s Deputy Minister for External Affairs, Roger Albinyana, announced the Executive’s aim to have a network of “about 50 delegations” throughout the world, representing Catalonia’s political, business and cultural interests abroad. The Catalan Government currently has 7 delegations abroad, after the new representations in Rome and Vienna start to work on Monday, when the representatives were appointed. The 5 others are located in Brussels, London, Paris, Berlin and Washington. In the coming “months and years”, the Catalan Government will continue to open new delegations. Regardless of the hypothetical independence from Spain, the Catalan Executive already has the powers to have its own External Action policy, recognised by the Catalan Statute of Autonomy from 2006, although with many limitations.

José Manuel Lara Bosch, President and partial owner of the Barcelona-based Grupo Planeta – the world’s largest publisher in Spanish language – died on Saturday in the Catalan capital aged 68, after a long battle with pancreatic cancer. His funeral was held on Monday in Barcelona and it brought together top representatives from Catalonia’s and Spain’s political, business, media and cultural worlds. Grupo Planeta owns many publishing houses as well as TV channels, radio stations and newspapers. It also grants each year the biggest prize in Spanish literature. In the late 1960s, Lara Bosch started to hold top positions in the family’s publishing house Planeta, founded by his father. In the 1980s, he was behind the business’ expansion, buying many publishing houses. His brother’s early death in 1995 made him become the group’s ‘number 2’ after his father, who passed away in 2003. In the 1990s and 2000s, Bosch transformed Planeta into a multimedia giant.

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. 

Juan Goytisolo (born 1931 in Barcelona) is the latest winner of the Cervantes Prize, which is considered to be the Nobel Prize for literature in Spanish. On Monday at noon, the jury’s verdict was read by Spain’s Minister for Culture, José Ignacio Wert, and it emphasised the author’s "ability to delve into language", his "complex stylistic proposals" and "his desire to bring together" different cultures. Goytisolo, who currently resides in Marrakech (Morocco), will receive the award at a ceremony to be held on April 23 in Alcalá de Henares, in Madrid's region. The Cervantes Prize is awarded by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and is worth €125,000. Goytisolo's works have been translated into English, French, German, Polish, Slovak and Romanian, among others.

Catalan author Jaume Cabré’s latest novel 'Jo confesso' has been translated into English and is finally hitting bookstores in the Anglophone world for the first time since its original publication in 2011. It was translated by Mara Faye Letham and published by Arcadia books. The novel, which this year won the Courrier International Prize for 'Best foreign novel', as well as several Catalan literature awards, has already been translated into Spanish, German, Italian and Chinese, among others. This is another success for Catalan literature, after the publication in English of 'Quadern gris' ('The Grey Notebook') by Josep Pla and the Joan Sales classic 'Incerta Glòria' ('Uncertain Glory'). Catalan literature is blossoming among English readers, thanks to the recent translations of several other classics.

On Wednesday evening, at an award ceremony in Barcelona, the Mexican author won the prestigious literary award the Planeta Prize, with his novel 'Milena o el fémur más bello del mundo' ('Milena, or the most beautiful femur in the world'). The Planeta Prize, now in its 63^rd edition, is an award bestowed on unpublished books in Spanish that are submitted under pseudonyms, and with false titles, in theory to avoid judges being biased by author’s reputations. In the case of the winner, the work was presented under the pseudonym Eduardo Nevado, with the fake title 'Los crímenes del cromosoma XY ('XY chromosome crimes­'). A finalist to the prize, was Barcelona journalist Pilar Eyre, who submitted her work 'Mi color favorito es verte' ('Seeing you is my favourite colour'), under the alias Coral Teide and title 'Se llamaba Sébastien' ('His name was Sébastien').

In 1714, Catalonia was defeated and loss its sovereignty, its self-government, its Constitution and its freedoms to an absolute king who imposed a harsh political, economic, social and cultural repression that was prolonged until the 1970s, only interrupted during a few isolated and short periods. Barcelona was one of the last cities to fall, but it was ultimately defeated on the 11^th of September 1714, after a 14-month military siege. A few days after, all of Catalonia succumbed to the authority of the new dynasty, the Bourbons, who founded a Unitarian Spain, centralist and with an implacable homogenisation plan. Catalonia's National Day pays tribute to those defending Barcelona until the last day and aims to make citizens remember the loss of sovereignty and freedom. On the 300^th anniversary of the defeat, and in the middle of the current self-determination process, the institutional celebrations were particularly symbolical and unique.