Which writers will be attending the Guadalajara Book Fair?

BarcelonaXavier Bosch, Núria Cadenas, Javier Cercas, Carlota Gurt, Eduardo Mendoza, Marta Orriols, Jordi Puntí, Regina Rodríguez Sirvent, Màrius Serra, Colmo Tóibín, Carlos Zanón and around sixty other authors will be participating in the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL in Mexico.

"This participation as guest of honor comes ten years after Barcelona was declared a literary city by UNESCO," recalled Jaume Collboni, Mayor of Barcelona, at the presentation of the program in the Saló de Cent of Barcelona City Hall. "The city wants to establish itself as a cultural and publishing capital in the Catalan, Catalan Castilian and Catalan languages. Rebuild and intensify the ties between Barcelona and Latin America, which was very important in the 1970s.

Collboni mentioned that the Catalan pavilion will have more than 1,000 square meters, with a large A bookstore featuring more than 10,000 books related to the city and a 120-seat auditorium hosting part of the literary and professional program. Barcelona's participation will go beyond the purely literary sphere. "To explain Barcelona and the Mediterranean identity," Collboni added, there will also be themes such as gastronomy, science, design, and concerts by Roger Mas, Rigoberta Bandini, Love of Lesbian, and Queralt Lahoz. Barcelona's budget, derived from the tourist tax, will be €3.5 million. The opening luncheon of the FIL will be prepared by chef Gerard Bellver of the Jiribilla restaurant, and the writer who will open the fair will be Eduardo Mendoza, very popular in Mexico.

Explain the current literary Barcelona

On behalf of the International Book Fair (FIL), its president, Trinidad Padilla López, defined Barcelona as a "capital of thought, languages, art, and books" and a capital city of "creativity and innovation." Over nearly four decades, the fair has invited India, Germany, Colombia, Argentina, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Catalonia, Andalusia, and, in 2025, Barcelona. In the previous edition, the fair received more than 900,000 visitors and was attended by 18,000 book industry professionals from more than sixty countries. Marisol Schulz, director of the FIL, noted that "there are just over 150 days left until Guadalajara is filled with Barcelona's talent and the ties between both cultures can be strengthened." Schulz recalled the importance of the Latin American boom in Barcelona—through the presence of writers in the city, such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Gabriel García Márquez, and Jorge Edwards—and the key role of literary agents like Carmen Balcells, who will be honored at the fair. "Joan Manuel Serrat will take part in a dialogue with Benito Taibo, accompanied by more than a thousand young people," Schulz revealed.

Anna Guitart, curator of the literary and cultural program, revealed all the details of Barcelona's participation. "We haven't explained anything until now: the journalists know that," she admitted. "For Barcelona, ​​it's a great opportunity to be in Guadalajara this year. It's an impressive showcase and a vibrant fair; the party is guaranteed," she continued. "In Guadalajara, we want to tell the story of today's literary Barcelona." I don't think you can define the literature produced in Barcelona in just one way, and I think that's a good thing, because it shows the city's cultural richness and variety."

The motto of Barcelona's participation is The flowers will come, by Mercè Rodoreda. "She is the best ambassador we could have," acknowledged Guitart. Rodoreda will also be one of the honored authors, to which will be added events dedicated to Joan Brossa, Manuel Vázquez Montalbán, and Jacint Verdaguer. "I know that the list of invited authors will be the center of attention," said Guitart. "A non-negotiable criterion of the fair was that they asked us to have all the books translated into Spanish, with the sole exception of the poetry books. We were also determined not to repeat authors who were already at the fair last year, and to also prioritize new authors." In addition to the aforementioned authors, Kiko Amat, Sergi Belbel, Mireia Calafell, Javier Mas Craviotto, Irene Pujadas, Gemma Ruiz, Elisenda Solsona, Josep Pedrals, and Juan Pablo Villalobos will also be traveling to Guadalajara. "The great challenge has been the choice, which implies a reduction of everything that is happening culturally and scientifically in the city," continued Guitart. "Very valuable people have been left out of the program."

In the thought section, a program coordinated in collaboration with the Center for Contemporary Culture of Barcelona, ​​​​the presence of fifteen philosophers and essayists stands out, among them Fina Birulés, Daniel Gamper, Marina Garcés, Ingrid Guardiola and Marta Segarra. The Catalan performing arts will also be present in Guadalajara, starting with performances of Sonoma, from La Veronal, I, transvestite, by Josep Maria Miró and a dramatized reading of Diamond Square, by Mercè Rodoreda, and the visual arts program will feature the Cabosanroque trilogy with three independent installations dedicated to Joan Brossa, Jacint Verdaguer, and Mercè Rodoreda. The scientific section will feature Pere Estupinyà, Salvador Macip, Gemma Marfany, Toni Pou, and Eva Vidal.

There will also be two exhibitions, The books of Barcelona, curated by Enric Jardí, focused on the history and evolution of editorial design in the city and They will sell the women, which addresses the relationship between Barcelona's female writers and public spaces over the past 150 years and is curated by Mita Casacuberta, Ingrid Guardiola, and Anna Maria Iglesia.