Catalan Book Week returns with a desire to break records

BarcelonaYear after year, Catalan Book Week continues to grow: each edition—this year's edition will be the 43rd—increases visitors and surpasses sales from the previous one. With the change of location last year, the Muelle de la Madera on Paseo Lluís Companys, the Week once again broke its own record: it went from 60,000 to 100,000 visitors, and earned 20% more than in 2023, which meant going from 600,000 to 720,000 euros.

The great Catalan book festival is growing in 2025 both in terms of exhibitors and spaces: the 8,900 square meters that the venue will occupy will have 94 little houses, representing 312 exhibitors, and several stages, with the aim of also reinforcing the commitment to children's and young adult books. To demonstrate "the richness of the country's publishing ecosystem," comments Cristina Domènech, director of the Week, "265 publishing houses from Catalonia, the Balearic Islands, the Valencian Community, Andorra, and Northern Catalonia will be present," in addition to the presence of 21 institutions and 25 bookstores. Among the nearly 300 events scheduled, to be held between September 19 and 28, will be the presentation of the latest Honorary Prize for Catalan Letters, Pere Lluís i Font; tributes to Feliu Formosa, Josep Maria Llompart and Carme Riera; presentations of numerous new features of the resumption, including those of Joan-Lluís Lluís, Toni Sala, Tània Soler, and Mireia Giró, and debates on essay publishing in Catalan, literature and artificial intelligence, and how to attract new readers in Catalan.

The 43rd Catalan Book Week will add The tongue carp, from the Department of Linguistic Policy with the Linguistic Normalization Consortium to promote the Catalan language and disseminate its learning resources, and The conversation space, where numerous scheduled dialogues will take place, including those by Joan Fontcuberta and Lluís Nacenta on art and technology; Marta Soldado and Marina Monsonís on exclusion zones, and Mar García Puig and Enric Pardo on motherhood and fatherhood. The Family Week section will also include a space, The little reading, where there will be more than 100 stories and books available to children, and the IBBYcat Workshop, where "some interactive dynamics related to reading will be presented," according to the organizers.