Continuity and growth. These two words could define the stake of the 41st Book Week in Catalan, which was presented this Tuesday at the Ateneu Barcelonès and will be held from September 8 to 17, once again at Moll de la Fusta, with figures on the rise and setting records: 7,000 m2, with 287 exhibitors in 87 stands – of which 59 offer children’s and youth books – which will host 244 labels, and where more than 300 activities of all kinds will be held spread over four stages , one of which is dedicated to the family audience. The budget for this edition is close to half a million euros, between public and private contributions.
Ilya Pérdigo, president of Editors.cat, which organizes the Week, emphasized that this year all the territories of the Catalan language will be represented, since in addition to the labels from Catalonia, Valencia, the Islands and Andorra there will also be several publishing houses of Northern Catalonia at a stand of the Catalan Library in Perpignan. Pérdigo also wanted to insist on the Week’s commitment to the language “in times of uncertainty like the current ones” regarding the language and the new governments that are being formed, and attentive to what happens after the next elections . As for the institutional representation, there is currently no change, including a stand of the Institute of Balearic Studies with its own publishing houses and activities.
The director of the Week, Cristina Domènech, has added that the long-term goal of the Week is that it does not remain only in the events held at the Moll de la Fusta, but that it is part of a “country calendar” and expand to other places.
He also explained that this year’s motto will be “The Week, where it all begins”, to show “the power of the book, from which plays, films or television series often arise”, and that it goes beyond the literature including cookbooks or travel guides.
The event, in this sense, is configured as the meeting of the book sector after the holidays, and for years 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 the presence of international authors such as Han Kang, Rob Riemenn, Roger Griffin and Karin Smirnoff.
The activity will also be maintained on weekday mornings, one of the events that caused some controversy last year, as some exhibitors complained that they were not getting the numbers. Domènech has justified that Editors.cat has been taken into account, but that “not all mornings are designed for invoicing but for dissemination, since there are activities, such as the morning dedicated to schools, which aim to bring the scoundrel in the books”.
The winners of the two awards of the week have also been announced. The writer Mercè Ibarz will receive the 27th Trajectoria award in recognition of a “unique work, a pioneer in many fields”, while 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 of getting what you write to be a book, is a long-distance race that never ends, that you have to sustain”.
