After publishing a few years ago A philosophy of fear, finalist for the Anagrama Essay Prize in 2021Bernat Castany Prado, philosopher and philologist, professor of literature at the UB, returns to bookstores with another delightful and highly recommended essay. A philosophy of laughterOnce again, we find an author who writes with a good rhythm, in an exuberant style, full of imagery, metaphors, and stylistic turns, yet maintains due restraint regarding the rigor of his ideas. The wit that characterizes the writing in this book is not exhausted by mere fireworks, but rather serves a way of life. Reading Professor Castany makes us better.

When Francesc Torralba (Barcelona, ​​1967) began teaching philosophy at the university, only five years older than his students. "Now I'm almost forty years older than them," he explains. "One of the changes between then and now is that I currently observe very high levels of disenchantment among students, both in the classroom and in tutorials." Torralba's new essay, Anatomy of Hope —which won the 2026 Josep Pla Prize—, stems from the unease he has observed in society in recent years, particularly affecting young people. "They are constantly bombarded with negative messages," the author continues. "They are told they will have precarious contracts, that they will never be able to buy a 60-square-meter apartment."² in Barcelona, ​​and that they will experience relationships marked by volatility." Adding to the negativity about the future is the media's portrayal of the present. "The news and newspapers tell us that both the local and global worlds are falling apart," he adds. "He has attempted suicide twice, what do I tell him?" he asks.

The Austrian Stefan Zweig (Vienna, 1881 - Petrópolis, 1942) is a writer who has been a source of great interest to publishers. After a period of obscurity, the success he enjoyed during his lifetime was revived at the turn of the century, making him a regular feature. long-seller, in a reference to the "world of yesterday" and in an iconic example of the skill of the late Jaume Vallcorba (Barcelona, ​​1949-2014), founder of the publishing houses Quaderns Crema and Acantiladoto consolidate a stellar catalog with the right mix of rediscovered and new releases. Therefore, it was logical to expect that, from January 2023 onwards, with his work entering the public domain, many stamps would follow Vienna's lead in its collection. Small pleasures with (for the moment) five titles, but also publishing houses such as Ediciones de 1984 and La Segunda Periferia, would incorporate his name.

In the last few days I've had the chance to browse through two newly published books that I found spectacular. One of them is the essay by Elvira Prado-Fabregat. Dark Nature. Imagination and ecology based on 'Solitude'Published by Barcino. And on the other hand, the Guide to Catalan Fantastic Creatures Published by Comanegra, with texts by Joan de Déu Prats and illustrations by Maria Padilla Climent.

Natalia Castro Picón (Menorca, 1989), professor of Spanish and contemporary culture at Princeton, has won the 53rd Anagrama essay prize with The end of the world partyThe book offers a hopeful reading of Spain's most recent past. Castro analyzes the two major crises of recent times: the economic crisis of 2008 and the pandemic of 2020, and all the conflicts that have occurred in between: the decline of democracy, the ecological crisis, the resurgence of fascism, racism, the war on women... Castro Picón analyzes interpretations of literature, film, music, the performing arts, and comics and asks what we're talking about when we talk about the end of the world.

Manuel de Pedrolo (l'Aranyó, 1918 – Barcelona, ​​​​1990) tried to get his first and only political essay, entitled, through censorship three times. Letters from CataloniaAll three times, the censors rejected him. The writer displayed, in the judges' words, a "definitely separatist character" and presented a text they considered "political propaganda with particular violence." It was the summer of 1966, a time when the Franco dictatorship was experiencing a certain degree of openness, but even so, the state apparatus did not yield to Pedrolo's demands. Letters from Catalonia It was forgotten in a drawer until, six decades later, the publishing house Comanegra unearthed it from the writer's archive. The essay now sees the light of day in an anthology entitled Combat prose, which is part of the collection Authorships and which also includes about forty articles by Pedrolo published between 1964 and 1988, some of which are also unpublished.

Let's consider what will happen when it becomes normal for human beings to surpass the 100-year mark. We're talking about when, not if, because we can already assume that yes, sooner or later we will reach this point. We're already heading toward a future where aging will be treatable. It will no longer be considered inevitable, but we will be able to do something to improve it, slow it down, halt it, or even reverse it.

In June 2022, the American Rebecca Solnit (1961) was unable to come to Barcelona, ​​where she was due to speak at the CCCB, and we had to settle for seeing and hearing her through a big screen. Three years later, this June he was there in person., in this case to share with us his latest published book, In Praise of the Unexpected Path, which links to Hope in the darkness, where he reflected on activism and confirmed its contribution to achieving results, beyond the often self-serving discourses that encourage inaction.

Raül Garrigasait (Solsona, 1979) has dedicated The rock and the air (Fragmenta, 2025), his latest essay, explores art and religion, two concepts that have shaped civilization for millennia. Through seven totemic yet radical figures.Ramon Llull, Ausiàs March, Isabel de Villena, Joan Maragall, Josep Carner, Frederic Mompou and Antoni Tàpies—, Garrigasait traces a path that connects past and present: in his hands, rereading cultural heritage ends up being an optimal way to give it continuity.

Capital in the 21st Century, by French economist Thomas Piketty, was a sensation when it was published in 2014. Piketty speaks of the dramatic rise in inequality and the contrast between the slow growth in income of the majority of the population and the exorbitant increase in income of the richest. But what most shocked conservatives was that it debunked a conservative myth, especially in the US: meritocracy, that is, that great fortunes are earned and deserved. Western societies before the First World War were dominated by an oligarchy that had inherited their wealth, and in his book, Piketty presents solid arguments indicating that we are heading back towards this situation.