Sergio Vila-Sanjuán

Invitado de Honor

Sergio Vila‑Sanjuán is the author of a trilogy of novels – A Barcelona Heiress, It Was in the Air (2013 Nadal Prize) and El informe Casabona (The Casabona Report) – which weave together family memory and historical chronicle and have been translated into several languages. He has also written the plays El club de la escalera (The Staircase Club) and La agente literaria (The Literary Agent). A seasoned cultural journalist, he is the director of the Cultura/s supplement at La Vanguardia. He has published books on literary, publishing and artistic affairs, including Pasando página (Turning the Page), Código best seller (Bestseller Code) and Cultura española en democracia (Spanish Culture in Democracy). He was the curator of the Year of the Book and Reading 2005 and is a member of the Royal Academy of Belles-lettres of Barcelona. His accolades include the 2020 National Prize for Cultural Journalism, the Atlántida Prize and the Giménez Frontín Prize for Intercultural Dialogue. In 2025, he was awarded the Fernando Lara Novel Prize for Misterio en el Barrio Gótico (Mystery in the Gothic Quarter).

Other activities involving the participant:

X-ray of the Catalan publishing sector

Maria Carme Roca

Invitado de Honor

Maria Carme Roca (Barcelona, 1955) is a Catalan historian and philologist, and one of the country’s most widely read authors. After twelve years as a teacher, she has devoted herself exclusively to writing since 1997. She has published over seventy books, aimed at both children and young people as well as adults. Her work spans short stories, essays and novels, with a particular focus on historical fiction, including titles such as El pont de fusta (The Wooden Bridge) (2004), Bàrcino (2009) and L’enigma Colom (The Columbus Enigma) (2014). Her essays include Les dones de Jaume I (The Wives of James I) (2008) and Abadesses i priores a la Catalunya medieval (Abbesses and Prioresses in Medieval Catalonia) (2014).
Over the course of her career she has received numerous awards, including the Lola Anglada Prize for On s’amaga la por (Where Fear Hides) (2002), the Nèstor Luján Prize for Historical Fiction for Intrigues de palau (Palace Intrigues) (2006), the Joaquim Ruyra Prize for Katalepsis (2012), the Illa dels Llibres Prize for A punt d’estrena (Ready for Première) (2016), awarded by popular vote, the Barcanova Prize for Young People’s Literature for Selfies al cementiri (Selfies in the Cemetery) (2017) and the Prudenci Bertrana Girona Literary Prize for the novel El far (The Lighthouse) (2018). In 2025 she won the Santa Eulàlia Prize with El passatge (The Passage), adding yet another accolade to her distinguished record. Alongside writing, she regularly takes part in school reader forums, library discussions and literary walking tours based on her novels. 
 

Other activities involving the participant:

The seduction of historical figures
Enigma and betrayal: Reconstructing history