The Setmana del Llibre en Català faces the final stretch, and this Saturday morning, between the stage with sessions focused on Andorra and the one dedicated to the Balearic Islands –Sunday is the morning dedicated specifically to Valencian literature– it has given the second of its awards, and in a double sense: on Wednesday they awarded the Trajectory to Joan Francesc Mira and this is the second time that the Difusió award has been given, this year to the director of the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona (CCCB), Judit Carrera ( Barcelona, 1974).
It is a personal award, but from the first moment the winner has appealed to the collective “us”, highlighting teamwork and showcasing the common project. In the act, presented by the journalist Anna Pérez, the president of the Setmana, Joan Carles Girbés, thanked Carrera for his “complicity with authors and editors”, because “it is not so common that from a public position one works so closely with the publishing sector in Catalan”, to the point that the CCCB “has an impact because knowing that we will have its support helps us decide on the edition of some books, and makes us diversify and raise the level”.
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After receiving the award, Carrera and Pérez talk about reading and the winner assures that as a child “she was not a bookworm” but she does remember especially The zoo d’en Pitus and the Travel to the country of lacets of Sebastià Sorribes, and as his was one of the first generations that could already learn to read in Catalan, without stopping doing it in Spanish –at school they made Borges read when he was 13 years old–.
Passionate about culture in general, she decided to study Political Science “to try to understand the world”, which she continues to do from the institution she directs, giving value to “the word as a defense of democracy”.
The winner recommended works by Arendt, Machiavelli, Rodoreda, Beard, Alexiévich, Todorov and Braidotti
Pérez also explains that it is not the first distinction she has received, since a few months ago she was distinguished as a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters of France, and they review some important titles for Carrera, who as a reader is more of non-fiction. start with the human condition of Hannah Arendt, “the great political philosopher of the contemporary world”, which has helped her understand that, in a troubled world with a tendency to a certain pessimism, “culture gives meaning to the future”. In addition, she believes that it is important to vindicate female models, because when she studied she missed them. On Prince of Machiavelli says that “it is the book that marked me the most when I studied Politics”. death and spring (Club Editor), by Mercè Rodoreda, is a wonderful book that undoes the image that has often been held of the author and proposes a story of resistance.
Judit Carrera, during the conversation with Anna Pérez
By Mary Beard, I see her and the power of the gifts (Arcàdia), which made her see that feminism still has to be insisted on, because men still have intellectual authority despite the increasingly important presence of women in management. She also highlighted the work of Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexievich War doesn’t tea donut face (Raig Verd) and how it is set in everyday life to reflect history. He too In Praise of Moderation by Tzvetan Todorov (from the collection Breus published by the CCCB itself), a “brilliant” author who helps us understand that human beings can understand each other, but to do so we need to give in and reject purity. In the wake of Post-human knowledge (Arcàdia) by Rosi Braidotti claimed “the need to rethink the humanities, because we cannot leave science in the hands of scientists and technologists”.
A review that also gives rise to highlighting the generosity of some names that have passed through the CCCB, such as Carolin Emcke, Gonçalo Tavares or Judith Butler, on the contrary, in her opinion, of Byung-Chul Han, who disappointed her when she met him because it seemed to him “the antithesis of everything he preaches.”
The last day of the week
Go Valencia!
As if it were a nod to Valencian Joan Carles Girbés on his last day as president of Setmana, one of the three stages will be dedicated to Valencian literature.
Starting with Joan Fuster, who will be discussed in two acts, but also novelties in the Valencian graphic novel, with The mystery of the dead mountain by Miguel Ángel Giner Bou and Susanna Martín and An os al Marroc of Lluc Silvestre (both in Andana). Or his narrative, poetry, children’s literature, essays or popular culture.
There will also be a session on translation, with Ferran Ràfols, Lluís-Anton Baulenas and Valèria Gaillard, another on two novelties by Àngle, Loveby Manel Castromil, and against nostalgiaby Maria Canelles, a conversation about Gabriel Ferrater with Jordi Amat and Jordi Cornudella, or another based on The delay em sobta (Quaderns Crema), the latest book by Francesc Parcerisas.
There will also be an end to the conversations about each of the decades that the Setmana has gone through, already reaching the one from 2013 to 2022, with Marina Porras, Júlia Ojeda and Anna Punsoda.
In the family spaces, the presentations of the new installments of two series stand out: The Follet Oriol and an extraordinary rescue (Barcanova) by Òscar Sardà, and Bitmax&Co: The war of the formigues (Combel), by the prolific duo Jaume Copons and Liliana Fortuny, and the last storytelling will be held aboard the Open Arms sailboat Astral.
The last act will be the farewell and evaluation of President Girbés, who will bring this edition and his mandate to an end.
Catalan version, here
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Judit Carrera receives the Dissemination award of the Setmana del Llibre in Català