Presentation

A call for equality and sustainability

This November marks the fifth 42 Festival, an event now firmly established as Catalonia’s leading celebration of fantastic-genre literature. This milestone fills us with pride, as it demonstrates how the festival has not only found its audience, but has continued to grow and evolve year after year, connecting with new generations of readers and opening doors to bold and surprising narrative worlds. 

Once again, the Fabra i Coats creation factory will play host to nearly two hundred guest authors and around seventy activities scheduled over five days, aimed at both fans of non-mimetic genres and those eager to discover new writers and titles. Over the past four years, the festival has become a trusted point of reference for the roughly eight thousand people who attend each year, fulfilling cultural needs that give the 42 Festival its purpose and make it indispensable.

In this particularly special year, the programme’s themes are more outspoken than ever. At a time when the far right is gaining ground across the world, the festival is standing up for gender equality and respect towards groups such as the LGBTIQ+ community. One unprecedented event on this theme will be the roundtable made up exclusively of international women authors, including prominent figures such as Fonda Lee, V. E. Schwab, Claire North and Frances Hardinge—leading voices in today’s fantastic genres. Although tradition has often rendered women invisible, many of the leading writers of our time are women, and giving them centre stage is an excellent way to celebrate their work and redress past imbalances. Likewise, there will be a diversity roundtable bringing together writers who combine creativity and activism in defence of the rights of marginalised groups and against regression. 

The other major theme of this fifth 42 Festival is climate fiction, a genre that helps us anticipate the effects of our current environmental crisis and reflect on the challenges that will shape the world we leave to future generations. What climate futures do we want to avoid, and which do we want to build? How can we achieve a more sustainable world? Rather than seeking a single answer, the festival aims to serve as a stage for discussion and shared inspiration, where literature becomes a driving force for awareness and transformation.

This year’s festival is also notable for its large contingent of acclaimed Latin American authors, including Esther Cross, Alberto Chimal and Edmundo Paz Soldán. They bring fresh insights and sensibilities to the fantastic genre, shedding light on its interplay with major social and environmental concerns. At their core, science fiction, fantasy, horror, magical realism and all the subgenres that make up the fantastic are powerful tools for reimagining ourselves and the world around us—and the diversity of these voices only strengthens their impact. 

That’s why I’m inviting everyone to enjoy a festival where imagination and storytelling transcend borders, connecting us with different realities, but also with shared dreams. Here’s to being inspired by the diverse voices of the 42 Festival as we work together to build a fairer, more equal and environmentally conscious future! 

Xavier Marcé 
Councillor for Culture and Creative Industries

 

Five years exploring worlds and standing up for rights

In Catalonia, 2025 is a year full of anniversaries when it comes to fantastic genres: the centenary of Barcelona’s Ana María Matute, featured in an exhibition in the city’s libraries; the 40th anniversary of Gigamesh, a pioneering bookshop for the genre in southern Europe; the 20th anniversary of the death of Jesús Moncada and his hidden worlds in Torrelloba and Mequinensa; the passing of Rosa Fabregat… And, of course, the first five years of the 42 Festival, which is going stronger than ever thanks to the increasingly enthusiastic response from the city, which we hope to experience again from 5 to 9 November at Fabra i Coats.

Here are just a few of the many themes we’re working on for this fifth edition: first and foremost, at a time when authoritarianism is on the rise, the 42 Festival will do its part to speak out against the threat of global backsliding on social rights, feminism and LGBTIQ+ rights, featuring a lineup of non-heteronormative authors, creations and approaches. We’ve been committed to mainstreaming diversity for years, but in this edition we feel that it’s more urgent than ever to highlight how fantastic genres have been, and continue to be, a bulwark against any attempts to take us backwards. From large panel discussions with dozens of international authors to conversations on diversity in genre fiction, specific workshops and activities, and no shortage of thought-provoking book recommendations, this edition will draw red lines as it seeks to go beyond leisure and entertainment to also protect us against the siren songs of regressive forces.

In the face of this onslaught of attacks on identities, including linguistic identity, the 42 Festival will also focus on the tradition of fantastic-genre literature in Catalonia, with two main exhibitions on the major mythological figures of our history and the development of Catalan-language science fiction over the ages. In addition to the tributes to Jesús Moncada, the conventions in honour of Ursula K. Le Guin and Angela Carter – including recent translations of some of their works – and the return of authors from all over the Catalan-speaking world, from Andorra and the Balearic Islands to Northern Catalonia under French administration and the Valencian Country, the festival also wants to emphasise that the stigmatised phenomenon of fantastic genres in Catalan has always been much more than a fad or the passing fancy of a few amateurs. And we’re pleased to announce the participation of the great Joan-Lluís Lluís, reflecting our steadfast commitment to quality.

The 42 Festival will also be celebrating Latin America’s rich tradition of fantastic literature, currently led by a growing number of female authors, such as Mariana Enríquez, a guest at the 2023 edition, and Elaine Vilar Madruga, who won the Best Novel award at the 2024 edition. This year, up to a dozen acclaimed authors from countries such as Argentina, Uruguay, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador and the United States will be visiting us to talk about works that, in many cases, fit perfectly with the other themes and core causes of the 42 Festival. More names will be revealed as we get closer to November, but for now, to give you just a taste of how ambitious this edition will be, we can confirm that the great Alberto Chimal will be among them.

As always, however, there will also be other themes for all tastes and interests. Fans of YA literature, which features in every edition, can’t miss this year’s star attraction, a visit from V.E. Schwab. There will be plenty of monsters, more topical than ever with the upcoming premiere of Guillermo del Toro’s new Frankenstein in cinemas and on streaming platforms. Climate fiction, which has gained newfound recognition through initiatives as the Bagaleu Award, will also have its own section this November. Then there’s the rise of romantasy, a genre that will also be explored from both canonical and unusual perspectives, with none other than German sensation Stella Tack as one of our guests. Not to mention comics, grimdark, weird fiction, Afrofuturism, cosplay, music, performing arts and lots more that can’t be summarised in this sneak peek. Take our word for it, though: we’ve got a great programme in the works for this November, once again featuring over a hundred national and international authors, opening and closing events, tours, practical activities, workshops and talks, panels with world-renowned speakers, podcasts, dance, signings, sessions for secondary schools, the 42 Awards ceremony and more.

In case you couldn’t tell, we’re going all out for our fifth anniversary.

Save the date: 5 to 9 November, at Barcelona’s Fabra i Coats venue. Yes, other worlds exist, and all of them want to be at the 42 Festival. Will you be joining us for the fifth time too?

Ricard Ruiz Garzón
Curator of the 42 Festival