Reading contributes to reducing stress, preventing cognitive decline,to promote sleep... Reading also enhances social skills and increases knowledge. These are just some of the benefits of reading for our health. And at any age. From the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes (ILC), these benefits, which the Department of Health includes in its Canal Salut, are also very much taken into account. This is explained by its director Eduard Escoffet (Barcelona, 1979), who defends reading as a healthy and essential habit. Poet and director of the festival of current poetic practices PROPUESTA, at the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (2000-2004), Barcelona Poesía (International Poetry Festival of Barcelona) between 2010 and 2012 and POESÍA y + (2013-2024), on January 2nd he will complete one year at the head of the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes (ILC), whose mission is to promote Catalan literature and encourage reading.
--- What is the current state of Catalan literature, from the point of view of production?
--- In general, we are in a good moment, I am very optimistic, in the sense that a lot is being produced, literature of great quality and with a very important diversity of perspectives. With this we have gained, and not only in the most consumed genres, but also in dramatic literature, comics, and children's and young adult books. This is the global image throughout the territory with linguistic dominance of Catalan, which is where the ILC frames its work.
--- And as for consumption, how are we doing?--- According to the latest report published by the Institut Català de les Empreses Culturals (ICEC), we are holding our own ---the study of Reading Habits and Book Purchasing in Catalonia indicates that at least once a quarter, 96.9% of those over fourteen years of age in Catalonia read some type of material on any medium, printed or digital. Our goal is to increase this reading index. And in this mission, we are guided by the
National Plan for Books and Reading, that was approved in 2023 with broad consensus, in the previous legislature, but which, due to that great consensus, the current Government has also made its own. It includes 73 measures for different responsible parties, cultural entities, private and public, and the administration to apply, to increase the reading rate. We already see a slight upward trend, and we have to work to make it increase even more. But, in the general scope,
the editorial ecosystem is in a good momentand we have to work not to let our guard down, and to improve. Taking a global look at this ecosystem, from authors, publishers, translators, reading clubs, libraries... we have to see how we can help the different chains so that good production in Catalan reaches everywhere.
--- How are these 73 measures organized?They are very diverse, and stem from four axes: the promotion of reading habits; the right to reading and attention to diversity; support for the book ecosystem (creation, editing and production, dissemination and distribution, commercialization and access) and governance, which is dialogue, concertation and planning, data and research. Those that depend on us, we develop from the ILC. Some have more visibility, such as the creation of the future Casa de les Lletres, planned for 2028.
--- Where could it be?It will be located in the Palau Requesens (C/ Bisbe Caçador, 3), where the headquarters of the Reial Acadèmia de les Bones Lletres is now. Our headquarters and other entities such as AELC, ACEC, PEN Català, Espais Escrits, and IbbyCat will be there. For the first time, we will have a public headquarters, with a greater connection to the citizenry.
--- How are the actions already developed within the Pla Nacional del Llibre i la Lectura?--- One of the examples that has been very successful has been the program
All voices, of which a pilot test has been carried out this 2025 in the Osona region and now in 2026 we will double the groups in Osona and it will also start to be done in Lleida. It is a literary talent detection program for third and fourth year of ESO and first year of Bachillerato, which especially focuses on the diversity of perspectives. It aims to give young adolescents tools so that they can develop as writers. Thus, complying with the right to cultural participation and to favor this breadth of perspectives, we select young people from different high schools to attend literary creation workshops.
--- Where are these workshops held?In Osona, we do it at the University of Vic, and those from Lleida, at the University of Lleida (UdL), and it is organized with the Escola d'Escriptura de l'Ateneu Barcelonès. The objective is for them to have access to literary creation, with tools and resources, and for creation to act as a link between young people. This is one of the measures that was cooked up in the plan, which already began during the stage of the previous director of the ILC, Izaskun Arretxe, and is one of the very important goldsmithing proposals. Our idea is to progressively expand its action and take it throughout the country.
--- A significant incentive for new authors is the large number of calls for literary awards.Yes. Our role in this is purely to compile and disseminate the awards. We offer information on all the awards we collect and that reach us. Awards are a very characteristic feature of Catalan literature. In poetry, for example, there are many more than in other literatures. Here we have a very important network of awards. The challenge is to ensure they have a greater impact and to accompany the award-winning works so that they reach a wider audience, and it is relevant to combine awards for unpublished and published works. That is, to have a very diverse offer of awards, from the more professionalized to the amateur, and to promote the works, in prose or poetry. That of the awards is
one of the most visited sections of the ILC website.
--- How are the actions already developed within the Pla Nacional del Llibre i la Lectura?We have a project,
Shared Letters, with which we introduce these little-known authors throughout the territory. We work with partners in Andorra, in the Balearic Islands, in the Valencian Country, in Northern Catalonia and in Alghero, and we do the part of Catalonia. We make authors from different places circulate throughout the territory. This affects the contact between authors and readers, through reading clubs. And, in educational centers, the program
Letters in the classroomsalso creates this interaction with the authors, in this case, the students. We are already on our way to 30 years with this program in the classrooms; it was one of the pioneering cooperation projects between the Department of Culture and the Department of Education. It was born in '97 to promote the presence of literature in educational centers. And, in recent years, it has experienced a very significant increase. We have already had 800 visits, basically in the Principality.
"How the literature of the future will be, we are writing it now"
--- Does the National Plan cover all ages?Yes, the vision of the plan is to cater to all age groups, so that the youngest have access to literary creation, and we don't just support those who are already established. That's why we have grants for emerging, novel, and established authors, and we also give recognition to seniors and pay tribute to famous authors. We don't just want to focus on encouraging younger people to dedicate themselves to creation; our support is for people aged 20, 40, or 60. This 2025 we have started with twelve grants, financial aid, and accompanying sessions with professionalization workshops so that the youngest understand the literary ecosystem, and they receive mentoring from an established author. And this is done with maximum genre diversity. One of the institution's challenges, which is also raised in the national plan, is not only to work to keep alive and make known the literary heritage we already have, but also to ensure the future. That's why at the ILC we can say that we have one foot in the past and another in the future.
--- This is also how the now consolidated literati prepare their succession.How the literature of the future will be is what we are writing now. There are complicated challenges, regarding language, for example, and about the role of literature in our society. But we have to go out into the field to achieve the maximum, not to lose. Our heritage is very powerful, and we have a literary scene with a lot of trajectory and weight, and the commitment to generate the heritage of the future, which will be a mix of the already consolidated and the new. For the consolidated, this 2026 we have increased creation grants to 12,000 euros. It is an investment, because there are literary proposals that need to be locked away for a few months and, if we do not offer the conditions to be able to do so, it makes no sense. This benefits authors, but also publishers and society in general. And, in this way, we incentivize the professionalization of authors and guarantee more quality in the works. I always think that, in an ecosystem, if you make a change, however small, it has effects on everything else, in this case, on society as a whole.
--- There are even already studies on the impact of culture on health. Health and culture is another of the ILC's focus points.Yes, we have two major alliances that are being worked on and that will be crucial in the coming years. One is between Culture and Education, with a Culture and Education program that we have been working on in classrooms for more than 25 years. And the other is in the field of health, because we know what culture contributes to health and, in our case, it is obvious that reading is part of it. Specialists like Sebastià Serrano insist a lot that reading can be a very important element for people, and these are the things we have to promote. Medical prescriptions, in addition to good habits, we have to ensure that they include culture, that culture is prescribed. This is one of the challenges that the Department of Culture has on the table.
"A priority as a country is for Culture to be able to account for 2% of the public budget, which is a minimum agreement requested by the entire sector"
--- The ILC also pays attention to literary residencies.Yes, we encourage literary creation residencies, creation spaces, to strengthen the relationship between creation centers and writers and translators. On the website we have a map where strictly literary or artistic and cultural residencies are located, and now we are working on how we can further favor the presence of Catalan authors in these residencies. The Institut Ramon Llull deals with territory outside the linguistic domain, in residencies abroad. We work jointly with them to see if we can help with scholarships for transportation or living expenses. This is increasingly important, because we always try to support the dissemination of works, but before they reach bookstores, we have to ensure that there are spaces to develop them, to create, and this means time and space for the creator, to be able to make a more ambitious work. Just as a good dish needs to be made
chup-chup,in literature, the same thing happens, you have to dedicate time. Otherwise, nuances are lost.
--- The ILC is also in charge of organizing commemorations. Which ones will be held in 2026?We will do those of Blai Bonet, Clementina Arderiu and Josep Maria Castellet, and separately we will dedicate a tribute to Joan Alcover on the occasion of the hundredth anniversary of his death.
"The bookstore must function as a business, but it also acts as a prescriber, with a commitment to literature that goes beyond sales"
--- What are the main challenges for the ILC for 2026?--- A priority as a country is that Culture can reach 2% of the public budget, which is a minimum agreement requested by the entire sector. There is political consensus and, therefore, we have to be able to reach it in a short time. And, from the institution, a challenge is the professionalization strategy of the sector. That is why literary cycles and festivals and reading clubs are important to promote the dissemination of works and, in turn, encourage reading. They are also another leg for creators, who thanks to this professionalization can earn more from activities parallel to writing. We are developing different strategies to promote this professionalization, talking with festival and cycle organizers, and contributing more money to their promotion. Also to promote more children's and young adult literature, comics and dramatic literature, to make it reach more of society as a whole and for authors to understand that the Institució de les Lletres Catalanes is also their interlocutor. And we are making changes to carry all this out in the best possible way.
— And as for bookstores, what is their state of health?
— Perhaps we should ask the Gremi de Llibreters, but although some have closed, new ones are also opening, and with a great diversity of perspectives. These are bookstores that act as cultural centers. Like libraries, bookstores are a pillar, and the reading clubs held in them are a very important element in the literary ecosystem. Also to be able to bring authors to reading clubs outside urban centers. The bookstore must function as a business, but it also acts as a prescriber, with a commitment to literature that goes beyond sales.
Despite having lost several local businesses, losing the soul of the streets and turning cities into more inhospitable spaces without these businesses, we still preserve the bookstore as an experience. Whoever enters it does not always leave with a book, but its role remains very important, and I believe the figures are positive. A bookstore depends a lot on the commitment of those booksellers who sustain it. Thanks to them, bookstores are maintained and, if at the beginning of the century we thought that bookstores, libraries and paper books would no longer exist, we see that this has not been the case.