What book has Tortell Poltrona read this summer on tour in Priorat?

BarcelonaThis summer Circ Cric has recovered its nomadic spirit and has spent a month and a half on the road. Last weekend they finished an adventure that toured six townsin the Priorat region and the Prades mountains. Precisely for this reason, the clown Jaume Mateu (Tortell Poltrona within the tent) recommends Lo mig del món (Club Editor) by philologist and activist Roser Vernet, born in El Masroig. It is a book of memoirs that is also a literary journey – full of poetry and linguistically well-rooted in the place – through the Priorat, its villages, and its people.

"In the Priorat, apart from the slate, there is wine and there are charming people who have not yet lost sight of the world like the rest of society," argues the artist, who this summer has sought maximum proximity with the audience with the small-format show L'últim somni. In the book, Vernet undertakes an unusual exercise to talk about a specific microcosm and at the same time about the most universal experiences, such as leaving and returning home. And she does so with a critical eye towards the current world, which she views with disgust and consternation.

"I read as much as I can, I don't have enough hours to read, and I like to read about the places I go to," assures Mateu. The clown is not restrictive in genres or styles. In fact, he is enthusiastic about more literary noir novels, for example by the French writer Fred Vargas, of whom he highlights Quan surt la reclusa, one of the cases in the famous series starring Commissioner Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg (Amsterdam). "If I go to Chile I look for Chilean noir novels, and if I go to Greece I look for Greek novelists. Books are a form of culture and life that, moreover, is not directed, and therefore, is fantastic," he argues.