Writers before Sant Jordi: "I'm doing 20 shows in 23 days. I'm giving it my all."

BarcelonaWhen she was thirteen or fourteen, Najat El Hachmi worked evenings at a local fruit and vegetable shop. "There I realized how hard it is to earn money," she recalls. She used the money she earned to buy a coat. Since then, she hadn't worked as a saleswoman until this Thursday, when her publisher asked her to work as a bookseller at the Casa del Libro on Rambla de Catalunya, alongside authors like Xavier Bosch, Martí Gironell, Toni Cruanyes, Estrella Solé, and Borja de Riquer, ready to recommend their favorite books. What actually happened was that customers who caught the writers standing at the counter took the opportunity to buy their new releases with a dedication. It was an early Sant Jordi, with more peace of mind but no discount.

Xavier Bosch already has his pens ready, "a full diary, and lots of enthusiasm," he assures. "I'll be doing 20 presentations in 23 days. I'm giving it my all, and so is the publisher," he says. He says that he usually meets up with his loyal readers every two years in every town he visits. At the Casa del Libro, he's recruited a new one, Angie: "I knew him as the director of theToday, but until now I haven't discovered that he's an author, it's regrettable," he says, ashamed. Bosch has summarized all his titles and has recommended the best for Joan, precisely the new one, Diagonal Manhattan (Column), "because he is in love with Barcelona in the 1970s and can identify with the protagonists."

Martí Gironell, who published months ago Treasure Mountain (Column), had half-read Xavier Bosch's novel from home and asked for a dedication while confessing that she is currently preparing a young adult novel. Najat El Hachmi is also presenting a young adult novel this Sant Jordi, The secrets of Nur (Polar Star), but if he has to recommend books for adults, he opts for a classic like Orlando, by Virginia Woolf, or The reflection of words, by the Iranian exile in the Netherlands Kader Abdolah, "a wonderful book, with this Persian way of telling a story linked to the present."

Toni Cruanyes can only dedicate Saturdays to the presentations of The woman of the century (Column), and explains that people always come up to him wanting to explain their own family history. "It's beautiful to awaken these feelings," he says, with a deft hand. He will buy Diagonal Manhattan to her mother. To her husband, one Joel Dicker, and to the father he will give The memory of the Catalans, the volume of history directed by Borja de Riquer about Catalan identity, a book that also recommends Xavier Bosch, next to Cosmonaut (LaBreu), the new edition of the complete poetic work of Francesc Garriga. Estel Solé, who is presenting the Ramon Llull award for This piece of life (Column), also recommends poetry and essays. "I'm interested in the topic of where we have placed love in non-romantic terms," he says, and emphasizes So pretty and tyrannical by Blanca Luz Vidal (Proa), The passion of strangers by Marina Garcés (Galaxia Gutenberg) and All about love by bell hooks (Paper Tiger). "I find that poetry and philosophical essays allow you to pick up the book, let it rest, and come back; on the other hand, with fiction, if you don't get into it, you won't come back. Instead of picking up your phone and looking at Instagram, where you find pseudopsychology and self-help, it's better to pick up an essay book, post-its", recommends.

Since there are no queues, the booksellers of the house take advantage to talk with the authors and buy books. Mireia stays Skin deep From Tania Juste (El Bolsillo): "I always recommend your books and people really enjoy them," she says, and the author thanks her wholeheartedly. Borja de Riquer highly recommends the book by his friend Ramon Solsona, Chocolate Street, because it speaks to the neighborhood where he was born, Gràcia. "It's brought back childhood memories: we used to go to the same neighborhood cinemas, we used to take the same number 24 tram..." he explains. This year, the historian is experiencing a different kind of pre-Sant Jordi, and has agreed to do some gigs on the tour that Grup 62 is organizing for its publishing ventures during April. "One of the problems for academics is that we're far removed from dissemination, so we've asked the 136 specialists who wrote the book not to think about their colleagues but about the people, so that any average educated Catalan reader would understand it," De Riquer explained. "To see that it's successful, that it's bought by ordinary people, almost as if it were fiction."