Álvaro Colomer

Invitado de Honor

Writer and journalist. He is the author of a trilogy on the death of the city – La calle de los suicidios (Suicide Street) (Círculo de Lectores, 2000), Mimodrama de una ciudad muerta (Mimodrama of a Dead City) (Siruela, 2004) and Los bosques de Upsala (The Forests of Uppsala) (Alfaguara, 2009) – as well as Aunque caminen por el valle de la muerte (Even Though They Walk Through the Valley of Death) (Random House, 2017), a novel based on real events which reconstructs the Battle of Najaf (Iraq). He has also published the non-fiction works Se alquila una mujer (Woman for Hire) (MR, 2002) and Guardianes de la memoria (Guardians of Memory) (MR, 2008; Fórcola, 2020), a travel book that earned him the International Award for Excellence in Journalism. He is also the author of books for children and young adults.
After three decades contributing to a range of media outlets, he is now editorial coordinator at Zenda magazine, a regular contributor to the ‘Cultura/s’ supplement (La Vanguardia) and a frequent guest on the radio programme A vivir (Cadena Ser). He also teaches in the Master’s in Publishing at the UPF School of Management, among other roles.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

Writing to acknowledge 50 years of loyalty
Barcelona today: a transformation
Learn how to write
Sustainable narratives
The seduction of historical figures
Expanded noir literature
(Literally) killers in Barcelona
From where one writes
Literary agencies in Barcelona

Carme Riera

Invitado de Honor

Carme Riera, Professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona, made her literary début in 1975 with Te deix, amor, la mar com a penyora (I Leave You, My Love, the Sea as My Pledge). Among her novels, highlights include Dins el darrer blau (In the Last Twilight) (1994), which received the Josep Pla, National Narrative, Crexells and Lletra d’Or Prizes, as well as the Vittorini Prize for the Best Foreign Novel Published in Italy in 2000; Cap al cel obert (Towards the Open Sky) (2000, Serra d’Or Critics’ Prize); La meitat de l’ànima (Half of the Soul) (2003, Sant Jordi Prize); L’estiu de l’anglès (The Summer of the Englishman) (2006); Natura quasi morta (Life Almost Still) (2011); Temps d’innocència (A Time of Innocence) (2013); Les darreres paraules (Last Words) (2016 BBVA Sant Joan Prize), which was adapted for both stage and opera; Venjaré la teva mort (I Will Avenge Your Death) (2018) and Una ombra blanca (A White Shadow) (2024). As an essayist, she has published La Escuela de Barcelona (The Barcelona School) (1988) and Carmen Balcells, traficant de paraules (Carmen Balcells, Words Trafficker) (2022). She is also the author of the short story collections Epitel·lis tendríssims (Exceedingly Tender Epithalamia) (1981) and Contra l’amor en companyia (Against Love in Company) (1981), the maternity diary Temps d’una espera (Waiting Time) (1998), the literary memoir Gràcies (Thank You) (2025) and the stories La veu de la sirena (The Voice of the Siren) (2015) and La pau dels somnis feliços (The Peace of Happy Dreams) (2022). Her work has been translated into numerous languages. In recognition of her dual role as writer and academic, she was awarded the National Culture Prize in 2001 and the National Literature Prize in 2015. She became a member of the Royal Academy of Fine Letters of Barcelona in 2002 and of the Royal Spanish Academy in 2012.

Other activities involving the participant:

Tribute to Carmen Balcells. The revolution of the publishing world
Writing to acknowledge 50 years of loyalty