First, the data. Back in the 17th century, one in five Catalans had been born in Occitania and other parts of France. That's a long time ago, agreed. Let's jump ahead: in 1930, the same was true for 27% of the population. And at the end of the 20th century, only 25% of people had all four grandparents born in Catalonia. In recent years, especially since the failure of the independence process and coinciding with the global wave of the far-right, exclusionary discourses have taken hold. The old guard of Catalan politics, especially former president Pujol, but not only him – also the heirs of PSUC and PSC, or Pujol's own historical rival, Raimon Obiols–, continue to defend welcoming and inclusion, but who listens to them?

After publishing two collections of poems and several short stories, Míriam Cano (Molins de Rei, 1982) suffered from a creative block. Five years later, the poet and translator broke that literary silence with Metamorphosis (L'Avenç), an intimate chronicle of two trips she made to the Greek village of Metamorfosis, which transformed her from within. On the first, Cano is accompanied by two great friends, Borja and Julia, and Julia's daughter, a baby. On the second, the writer shares the stay with Julia and her mother, Nuri, who has just lost her husband. Through them, the book explores friendship and loss, while inviting us to take things one step at a time, enjoying simple pleasures—eating, talking, not overthinking—and accepting ourselves without fear.