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The London Book Fair will feature a Catalan Culture Spotlight at its 2022 edition in April.
Separate to the Market Focus programme, it is being put together by the Institut Ramon Llull, the public organisation promoting Catalan language and culture internationally, in collaboration with the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies.
LBF, which runs from 5th–7th April next year, said the spotlight was designed to “showcase the exciting opportunities that the Catalan-speaking territories have to offer the global publishing audience, to forge connections between Catalan publishers, authors and illustrators and the global books scene, and to bring the depth and breadth of Catalan culture and literature to an international stage”.
It will include authors, poets, illustrators, translators and literary experts, with a series of panels, Q&As, readings and other events. The Institut Ramon Llull will work closely with Catalan publishers and translators to select a delegation of authors to attend LBF, alongside a wider events programme across the UK.
According to organisers, in 2020, the global turnover of books in Catalan was €246m (£209m), up from €237m (£201m) in 2018, with literary fiction and poetry representing a significant proportion (21.5%), followed by children’s books (18.7%) and non-fiction (8.9%).
Pere Almeda, director of the Institut Ramon Llull, said: "The spotlight programme will be a milestone in our ongoing strategy to promote Catalan culture internationally. The goal of the programme is both literary and professional: to raise awareness and to intensify the translation of Catalan literature into English, which has been increasing in recent years. With an outstanding cultural tradition and a vibrant contemporary scene, Catalan literature has already found a global reading community. After being featured as Guest of Honour at Frankfurt, Bologna and Paris, we are certain that now is the time for Catalan literature to step into the limelight in the English-speaking world.”
Andy Ventris, director of the London Book Fair, said: “We’re delighted that this year LBF’s spotlight will shine on Catalan literature. There are so many wonderful authors and illustrators from the Catalan-speaking territories that have yet to be discovered by the wider publishing community and we are excited to have the opportunity to raise their profile. The initiative will also provide a chance for UK and international publishers to discover exciting new areas to grow their audiences.”