Literary dialogues to prepare for Sant Jordi
After last year’s success, it’s time for another round of bookish talks in preparation for Barcelona’s greatest literary festival, which will kick off with the Night of the Dragon.
Coinciding with World Book Day, the feast of Saint George (Sant Jordi in Catalan) is traditionally celebrated in Catalonia by giving friends and loved ones books and roses. And the Sant Jordi Dialogues, which started just last year with great success, are meant to be a warm up for the main event, bringing together writers, publishers and journalists in the Auditorium of the city’s Design Museum to debate about literary affairs in a lively fashion, this year from 19 to 22 April. The opening speech, on 19 April, will be given by the novelist Almudena Grandes in the Saló de Cent at the town hall. The talks themselves begin on 20 April with Sergi Pàmies chatting to novelist Amélie Nothomb on "the singular gaze", while Olga Merino will moderate a roundtable discussion with Carme Riera and Najat El Hachmi on the idea of "family and conflict." On the 21 April there will be three conversations: one on fantastic literature with Philip Pullman and Albert Sánchez Piñol, another on Africa with José Eduardo Agualusa and Xavier Aldekoa, and finally, journalist Anna Guitart will get together with Fernando Aramburu, one of last year’s bestselling authors.
The activities running up to the day of Sant Jordi also include the Night of the Dragon in Plaça del Rei on 22 April, a dramatized tribute to great literature in Barcelona, directed by Marc Rosich with texts by Maria Mercè Marçal, Joan Brossa, Manuel de Pedrolo, Montserrat Abelló, Vicent Andrés Estellés and Maria Aurèlia Capmany.
Additional information on the events surrounding Sant Jordi is available at the following link.