Anne Carson and Laurie Anderson headline Barcelona Poetry 2025

Barcelona"Word. Emotion. Connection": with these three words and a huge soap bubble, a new edition of the Barcelona Poetry Festival has been presented, which will be held from May 6 to 13. American singer and poet Laurie Anderson, Canadian rhapsodist Anne Carson, British poet Raymond Antrobus, and Hungarian poet Nóra Blascsók will be the stars of the next edition of the Barcelona Poetry Festival 2025, co-directed by Maria Callís and Manuel Forcano. "This year we have placed a strong emphasis on internationalization," comments Forcano.

The festival will begin with the opening speech by playwright Jordi Oriol and musician Carles Pedragosa, collaborators on shows such as Sisyphus does not do, and Laurie Anderson's interdisciplinary concert at the Paral·lel 62 hall. Known for a multimedia career, which includes albums such as Big science (1982), films like Home for the brave (1986), books like All we lost in the flood (2018) and numerous collaborations with Lou Reed –who was her partner until his death at the end of 2013–, Anderson will present the interdisciplinary project Progress.

Carson's participation will be twofold: first, at the CCCB on Monday, May 12, where he will recite In lecture on pronouns, on the relationship between language, pronouns and gender identity, and The Cycladics, a poetic essay on the history of Cycladic civilization. She will perform alongside audiovisual works by British composer James Merry and American composer Robert Currie, along with dance by Icelandic composer Aðalheiður Halldórsdóttir. On the 13th, she will be among the featured poets at the 40th International Poetry Festival at the Palau de la Música Catalana, accompanied by Georgian composer Shota Iatashvili, Galician composer Lupe Gómez, Hungarian composer Márton Simon, Valencian composer Berta García Faet, Romanian composer Ana Blandiana, and the composer from Crítica Catalana.

Other highlights include the presentation of the Barcelona Floral Games Poetry Prize to Joan Deusa at the Saló de Cent, an evening dedicated to the Galician language at the Museu Marès, and poetry concerts with artists such as Anna Andreu, Mireia Calafell, Les Sueques, and Josep Tero. The festival is also growing with more collaborations and new venues: in addition to the Verger del Museu Marès, which will be the central venue, it will also be held at El Born - Barcelona History Museum, the Paral·lel 62 hall, the Palau de la Música, the Saló de Cent, and the Convent de Sant Agustí Civic Center.

The Versopolis evening will feature the collaboration of poet Raymond Antrobus, "who has poeticized his deafness," says Callís, and the musical duo L'Arannà (Friday, May 9, Verger del Museu Frederic Marès, 8 p.m.). El Born will host the Mediterranean Recital, with the participation of Turkish artist Adnan Özer and Maltese artist Elizabeth Grech (Sunday, May 11, 6 p.m.). The Museum of Forbidden Art, which is joining the Barcelona Poetry Show for the first time, is programming a recital with Gemma Gorga, Lucie Joy, Jean Poncet, Mariangela Gualtieri, and Ulrike Almut Sandig.

The festival will pay "several tributes to prominent figures in the poetry scene," says Callís, specifically to Teresa de Arenys, Carmelina Sánchez-Cutillas, Pere Gimferrer, and Josep Maria Llompart. "We are joining in the Llompart Year with an event featuring Jun Komura, Lucia Pietrelli, Pau Vadell and Susanna Rafart [Saturday, May 10, Convent Sant Agustí Civic Center, 6 pm] - he adds -. We will also pay tribute to Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer, led by Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer and Marcet [Saturday, May 10, Jardines Canals and Sunyer, 7 pm]. And we will pay tribute to Carmelina Sánchez Cutillas, a great Valencian writer and poet who is still little known in the Principality. Enrique Casasses, Noèlia Díaz Vicedo and Pau Sif. In the section of tributes to poets still active, Josep Pedrals, Perejaume and Vicenç Altaió will pay tribute to Pere Gimferrer, who will celebrate his eighth birthday this June [Thursday, May 8; Verger del Museo Frederic Marès, 7 p.m.