The month of September not only brings the start of the new school year. Literary releases for the new cultural season are also presented on the eve of the end of summer. And in Catalunya, the entity responsible for bringing the latest editorial novelties in Catalan language is La Setmana del Llibre en Català, an event organized annually by Editors.cat and which this year celebrates its 40th anniversary.
From September 9 to 18, the Moll de la Fusta fills with four stages, several reading spaces, and eighty stands with more than 250 exhibitors, including representatives of publishers, bookstores, libraries, and Catalan-speaking cultural institutions. Renowned authors, emerging talent, and the most media-savvy faces of the territory will gather over ten days to present their works, sign their books, answer questions, and respond to the curiosities of their readers.
La Setmana del Llibre en Català kicks off its fortieth edition with the largest deployment of resources in its history. The public will have access to 200,000 copies that will be put on sale, and which will include 150 new releases in Catalan. They will also be able to enjoy 300 activities of all kinds: workshops, interviews and colloquiums, poetry recitals, live music with Joan Dausà or Judit Neddermann, and the live broadcast of the podcast Mentrimentres.
The former president of the Generalitat, Quim Torra; journalists Carles Porta, Toni Cruanyes, Agnès Marquès, Espartac Peran, Albert Om or Natza Farré; comedians Marc Giró, Òscar Dalmau, Ana Polo and the members of the program La sotana; filmmaker Carla Simón, as well as Catalan best-sellers Albert Sánchez-Piñol and Empar Moliner, and the international phenomenon Ken Follett, are just some of the many personalities from the media landscape who will be seen at La Setmana, with their latest copies under their arm.
There will also be a vindication of the Catalan language in universal literature and in areas of civil society, such as schools or social networks. The conferences will feature spaces for reflection that will not be limited solely to Catalunya: cultural agents from Andorra, the Balearic Islands, and Valencia will also be present to claim their linguistic heritage.
The dissemination of the Catalan language will be rewarded with two awards. The director of the Centre de Cultura Contemporània de Barcelona (CCCB), Judit Carrera, will receive the Premi Difusió 2022 "for her tireless work in recent years, generating reflection and debate around various social topics of interest where books and publishers are a decisive part" --according to the jury--, while the Valencian writer Joan Francesc Mira will be recognized with the Premi Trajectòria.
Taking advantage of the annual fair, the Gremi d'Editors confirms the good moment of publishing in Catalan, with an 8% growth in sales in 2021 and a first half of 2022 that maintains the "good trend". From La Setmana, it is expected that, as a result of the extensive media coverage across the 7,523 square meters of the Moll de la Fusta, the 50,000 visitors who walked through the venue last year will be surpassed and that more than half a million euros will be invoiced.
For all tastes
In addition, some 700 people will participate in the activities being prepared for The Catalan Book Week. The organizers have tried to respond to all needs and include all audiences in the program: schools, teenagers, and older people who will star in specific spaces. Comics, theater, great classics of literature, and the fantasy genre will have their own workshops, as will cookbooks, travel guides, or illustrated albums, among others, which will have a lot of weight these days.The centenaries of writers Joan Fuster, Gabriel Ferrater, and Guillem Viladot --the Generalitat has declared 2022 Viladot Year by citizen initiative-- will be celebrated with heartfelt tributes, in the same way that the life and work of Mercè Rodoreda, author of La plaça del diamant and Mirall trencat; and Josep Maria Huertas Clavería, a contemporary reference in Catalan journalism, will be commemorated.