Festival 42

Under the ‘Explosive Readings’ project, part of the ‘Reading Action’ programme, the city library network (Biblioteques de Barcelona) and seven secondary schools from different city districts will be taking part in 42, Fantasy Genres Festival of Barcelona, an event that revolves around science fiction, fantasy and horror. 

This academic year, 2025–2026, a total of 387 secondary school students from schools in the city of Barcelona will attend the festival. They can visit the following exhibitions: A century of science fiction in Catalan, an introduction to the history of literature here that will open the door to works that explored outer and galactic space, and the exhibition on the Catalan Fantastic Bestiary. Within the festival, the students will meet and talk with the authors of the works they will read throughout the year.

The project combines the dynamics of a book club with participation in a city festival where they can meet national and international authors in the science-fiction and fantasy genres. This is a way of working with reading through meaningful experiences for students.

The works forming part of the project and linked to 42 are:

• Kilian (Fanbooks) by Xavier Gual
• Janowitz (Fanbooks) by Macip Garzón
• Quan s’apaguen els llums (Edebé) by Care Santos
• L’efecte Frankenstein (Edebé) by Elia Barceló
• La Cacera (Edebé) by David Lozano
• La voz de las sombras [A Skinful of Shadows] (Bambú) by Frances Hardinge      

The meetings with the authors will be held as part of the festival. 

The secondary schools taking part in this edition are: La Salle Comtal, Montjuïc, Barcelona-Congrés, Icària, Martí Pous, La Sagrera-Sant Andreu and La Flor de Maig.