Continuity and growth. These two words could define the bet for the 41st Setmana del Llibre en Català, which was presented this Tuesday at the Ateneu Barcelonès and will be held from September 8 to 17, once again at the Moll de la Fusta, with Record-breaking figures: 7,000 m2, with 287 exhibitors at 87 stands –of which 59 offer books for children and young people– that will host 244 stamps, and where more than 300 activities of all kinds will be held spread over four stages, one of which dedicated to the family audience. The budget for this edition is close to half a million euros, including public and private contributions.
Ilya Pérdigo, president of Editors.cat, which organizes Setmana, stressed that this year all the Catalan-language territories will be represented, since in addition to the stamps from Catalonia, Valencia, the Balearic Islands and Andorra there will be various publishers from Northern Catalonia in a stand of the Llibreria Catalana de Perpignan. Pérdigo also wanted to insist on the commitment of the Setmana with the language “in moments of uncertainty like the current ones” with respect to the language and the new governments that are being formed, and attentive to what happens after the next elections. With regard to institutional representation, today there is no change, including a stand of the Institut d’Estudis Balears with editorials and its own activities.
The director of the Week, Cristina Domènech, has added that the long-term objective of the Week is that it does not remain only in the events held at the Moll de la Fusta, but is part of a “country calendar” and expands to other places.
He also explained that this year the motto will be “La Setmana, where everything begins”, to show “the power of the book, from which plays, films or television series often arise”, and that it goes beyond literature with the inclusion of cookbooks or travel guides.
The appointment, in this sense, is configured as the meeting of the book sector after the holidays, and for years now it has marked the release of books with numerous presentations. This year, some of the highlights will be the new titles by Carlota Gurt, Sergi Pàmies, Roser Ametlla, Sílvia Soler, Biel Mesquida, Andreu Martín, Iolanda Batallé or Marta Marín-Dòmine, up to more than 125 novelties. There will also be international authors such as Han Kang, Rob Riemenn, Roger Griffin and Karin Smirnoff.
The activity will also continue on weekday mornings, which caused some controversy last year as some exhibitors complained that the numbers were not coming out. Domènech has justified that Editores.cat has taken this into account, but that “not all mornings are designed to bill but to disseminate, with activities such as the morning dedicated to schools”.
The winners of the two prizes of the Week have also been announced. The writer Mercè Ibarz will receive the 27th Trajetcòria award in recognition of “a unique work, pioneer in many fields”, while the singer-songwriter Roger Mas will receive the Difúsión award, in its third edition, for the promotion of authors such as Jacint Verdaguer , Joan Maragall, Toni Gol, Amadeu Vidal i Bonafont or Miquel Martí i Pol.
Ibarz thanked the award: “It makes me happy, because the job of writing, and making what you write a book, is a long-distance race that never ends, that you have to sustain.”
Catalan version, here
