Liberisliber of Besalú fills to capacity and shows the strength of independent publishers

GironaWith the Catalan Book Week having finished with record figures, both in terms of the number of visitors and sales volume, this weekend the well-established Liberisliber in Besalú takes over the baton of literary fairs, with a "full capacity" in the central squares of Sant Pere and the Cloister of this tourist town in the Garrotxa region, where stalls from a total of 69 independent publishing houses will be set up, and with a dense program of activities that seek to foster a taste for reading. To do its "bit" to achieve this goal, and "in view of the worrying situation revealed by recent reports on reading," Liberisliber has set out to work beyond the Besalú fair and has announced the launch, for the end of October, of the digital resource Lektur.cat: a recipe book in which, with the help of illustrators such as Dani Torrent or Anna Font, various and original strategies are proposed to encourage children and adults to read and to guide them in choosing their readings.

Dialogues about art and the word

Authors such as Carlota Gurt, Jordi Puntí or Martí Sales will participate in the activities of this 15th edition of Liberisliber, where this year the cycle of dialogues Art and Word stands out, in which the literary facet of the genius Salvador Dalí or the prominence of the Van Goghs in the latest works by Antoni Ortega and Julio César Pérez will be debated.

Also focusing on the link between art –in this case musical– and literature, a concert by Eduard Canimas has been scheduled, who has published the book-album La còsmica del caos, where he reviews his solid life and musical trajectory, from his beginnings with the group Zitzània and with the legendary Adrià Puntí to his latest album, with the same title as the book. The presentation of the Francesc Garriga Poetry Prize, shows and workshops for children, interviews with new voices in literature through Ràdio Web Liberisliber or literary vermouths complete a program that aims to show the "bibliodiversity and heterodox contents" in literary production.

The strength of independent publishers

Miquel-Àngel Codes, director and soul of Liberisliber, faces the new edition of the fair with optimism. "The proximity of dates with the Week of the Book in Catalan has not affected us negatively; we are completely full of publishing labels and even have a waiting list," says Codes. Despite acknowledging the difficulties of independent publishers at a time when production costs have soared and economic profits have been cut, Codes maintains that the consolidation of the Besalú fair demonstrates "the strength and vitality" of this sector. Among the publishers that will be at the fair, there are 11 that are making their debut, such as the Empordà-based Úrsula Llibres or the Barcelona-based Enderrock (book publishing branch). Of the total participating labels, 26 publish only in Catalan, 21 in Catalan and Spanish, and 11 only in Spanish.