Xavier Mas Craviotto

Invitado de Honor

Xavier Mas Craviotto, born in Navàs in 1996, studied Catalan language and literature and completed a postgraduate degree programme in Linguistic Consultancy and Publishing Services at the University of Barcelona. He is currently working as a teacher of Catalan language and culture at Bristol University, in the United Kingdom, and as an editor. He is one of the co-founders of Com ho diria, a digital platform devoted to Catalan youth slang. In addition to the novel La mort lenta (Documenta Award 2018), he has published the poetry collections Renills de cavall negre (Salvador Iborra Young Art Award 2018), La gran nàusea and La llum subterrània (Ausiàs March Award 2022). In total, he has won around 20 literary prizes for prose and poetry and has taken part in some collective short story anthologies. La pell del món is his second novel.

Maria Canelles

Invitado de Honor

Maria Canelles Trabal, born in Barcelona in 1988, has always been connected to the world of culture, specifically to literature and the visual arts, but also to theatre. She works in cultural management and, since December 2021, has been the co-director of the Fundació Joan Brossa – Centre de les Arts Lliures, a space focused on experimental poetry and projects that straddle the visual arts and live arts. She studied humanities, literary theory and comparative literature, in addition to earning a master’s degree in theatre studies. In 2016 she and Adrià Aubert co-wrote the theatrical adaptation of the Pere Calders novel Ronda naval sota la boira, earning them a nomination for the Catalan Critics’ Award for Best Adaptation. Texts of hers have appeared in fiction anthologies (Grand Hotel, Univers 2022) and group dramatised readings (Estar bé, a reading led by Glòria Balañà at the Sala Beckett, 2017). In September 2022, she published her first novel, Contra la nostàlgia, with Angle Editorial (2 editions). This novel was shortlisted for the Finestres Award for Catalan Fiction in the same year.

Other activities involving the participant:

Tribute to Joan Brossa. Poetry, politics, and nonconformity
Conquering the blank page: The first novel

Sergi Belbel

Invitado de Honor

Sergi Belbel is an author, translator and theatre director. 
His written works include Minim.mal Show (authored with Miquel Górriz, 1986), Elsa Scnheider (1989), Tàlem (1990), Carícies (1991), Després de la pluja (1993), Morir (1994), La sang (1998), El temps de Planck (2000), Forasters (2004), Mòbil (2005), A la Toscana (2007), Fora de joc (2010), Les roses de la vida (2017), Si no t’hagués conegut (2018), Angle mort (2020), co-written with Roc Esquius, Hamlet.01 (2022), Lali Symon (2023) and Hamlet.02 (2024). Most of these pieces have been seen in countries across Europe and America and, in some cases, on other continents.
He has directed plays by Benet i Jornet, Guimerà, Shakespeare, Molière, Racine, Goldoni, Calderón, J.B. Priestley, Mamet, Jardiel and more. Some of his pieces have been adapted to the silver screen by Ventura Pons (Carícies, Morir o no, Forasters) and Agustí Villaronga (Després de la pluja, a film for television). Belbel co-wrote the script for the films Eva, by Kike Maíllo (2011), and Stella Cadente (2014) and Love me not (2018), directed by Lluís Miñarro.
His accolades include the National Catalan Literature Award (1993–95), the Ministry of Culture’s National Dramatic Literature Award (1996), the Government of Catalonia’s National Theatre Award (2000), the Max Award for international reach (2002) and the City of Barcelona Award (2003).
In December 2021, he won the Sant Jordi Award for novels with Morir-ne disset (Proa), his first foray into prose fiction. In 2024, he published his second novel: Acte de fe (Proa).

Other activities involving the participant:

Barcelona opens the curtain!
Barcelona opens the curtain!

Carlota Gurt

Invitado de Honor

Carlota Gurt, born in Barcelona in 1976, has been a translator for more than ten years, and in another life, she worked as a producer for the theatre company La Fura dels Baus and the Festival Temporada Alta. She juggles her real life and her literary life and contributes to various media outlets. Her work includes the short story collection Cavalcarem tota la nit (2019 Mercè Rodoreda Award) and the novel Sola (2020), both of which have been translated into several languages. In 2023, she published the short story collection Biografia del foc.

Other activities involving the participant:

From where one writes
Praise (from Barcelona) for the story
Annual International Storytellers Conference

Carlota Gurt

Invitado de Honor

Carlota Gurt, born in Barcelona in 1976, has been a translator for more than ten years, and in another life, she worked as a producer for the theatre company La Fura dels Baus and the Festival Temporada Alta. She juggles her real life and her literary life and contributes to various media outlets. Her work includes the short story collection Cavalcarem tota la nit (2019 Mercè Rodoreda Award) and the novel Sola (2020), both of which have been translated into several languages. In 2023, she published the short story collection Biografia del foc.

Other activities involving the participant:

Of families, happy and unhappy in their own way
Praise (from Barcelona) for the story
Annual International Storytellers Conference

Pablo Martín Sánchez

Invitado de Honor

Pablo Martín Sánchez (Reus, 1977) holds a PhD in French Language and Literature from the University of Lille and a PhD in Literary and Artistic Theory and Comparative Literature from the University of Granada. A member of the Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle (Oulipo), he works regularly as a translator and creative writing instructor. In addition to Fricciones (Frictions) (2024), he has published the novels The Anarchist Who Shared My Name (Acantilado, 2012 (English publication: Deep Vellum, 2018)), Tuyo es el mañana (Yours is Tomorrow) (Acantilado, 2016) and Diario de un viejo cabezota (Diary of a Stubborn Old Man) (Acantilado, 2020), as well as Agatha (2017), co-written with Sara Mesa. His work has been translated into French, English, Czech and Dutch.

Other activities involving the participant:

Praise (from Barcelona) for the story

Bel Olid

Invitado de Honor

Bel Olid (Mataró, 1977) is a writer and translator, as well as the coordinator of the Catalan Studies programme at the University of Chicago, where they teach language and literature.
Their work, which engages with contemporary debates on gender, identity and sexuality, has been translated into several languages. In September they will publish the essay La mare incompleta (The Incomplete Mother), which explores the hidden costs of assisted reproduction.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

Feminist gaze and male guilt
The right to language
Bodies in transit: writing the self beyond labels

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
Tribute to Ana María Matute. Grand literature
(Literally) killers in Barcelona
Literary agencies in Barcelona

Carlota Gurt

Invitado de Honor

Carlota Gurt, born in Barcelona in 1976, has been a translator for more than ten years, and in another life, she worked as a producer for the theatre company La Fura dels Baus and the Festival Temporada Alta. She juggles her real life and her literary life and contributes to various media outlets. Her work includes the short story collection Cavalcarem tota la nit (2019 Mercè Rodoreda Award) and the novel Sola (2020), both of which have been translated into several languages. In 2023, she published the short story collection Biografia del foc.

Other activities involving the participant:

Of families, happy and unhappy in their own way
From where one writes
Praise (from Barcelona) for the story

Alejandra Kamiya

(Argentina)

A Abelardo Castillo, mi maestro, le gustaba la anécdota de cómo gané un concurso de cuentos de una cadena de supermercados porque deseaba el premio, un premio banal, y de cómo a partir de ganarlo pensé que podía tomarme la escritura seriamente. Luego de aquel episodio pasé por su taller y antes por el de Inés Fernández Moreno, y la publicación de mis libros llegó como por añadidura, sin que yo interviniera prácticamente. Cada paso que di fue tan natural que siento que no hubo una intención detrás, anduve como quien pasea. 

Pero lo necesario y esencial no está ahí, sino en la niña callada que fui, en el hecho de que cuento entre mi familia y amigos íntimos a Borges, a Clarice Lispector, a Fernando Pessoa, a Akutagawa y desde hace unos años a Annie Ernaux, en una relación extraña y extrañada con el lenguaje, en algo que siento como avidez por el mundo y otros llaman “mirada”, y en que no puedo pensarme sin leer y escribir.  

Ahora, que miro hacia atrás para escribir estas líneas, veo que es como si paseando hubiera llegado finalmente a donde debía ir. 

Other activities involving the participant:

Latin America Viva

Monique Malcher

(Brazil, 1988)

Monique Malcher is a writer, journalist and visual artist, born in Santarém, west of Pará. She has a master's degree in anthropology and an interdisciplinary doctorate in human sciences, with a specialization in gender studies. Her first book, Flor de gume (Editorial Moinhos), won the 2021 Jabuti Prize for Literature in the short story category. 

She is the second woman from the north of Brazil to win a Jabuti Prize for literature. Flor de gume will also be published soon under the title Flor de filo by the Fondo de Cultura Económica, in Mexico. His first novel, Degola (2025), will be published by the Companhia das Letras.

Other activities involving the participant:

Destinação Brazil

Xue Mo

(China, 1963)

Xue Mo, seudónimo de Chen Kaihong, nacido en Liangzhou, provincia de Gansu, es una de las voces más singulares de la literatura china contemporánea, y un profundo conocedor de las tradiciones culturales y espirituales de su país. A lo largo de su trayectoria ha consagrado su labor intelectual al estudio de las corrientes filosóficas y místicas que atraviesan la historia de China, con especial atención a la sabiduría popular del Oeste chino, su tierra natal.

Su obra literaria —que abarca narrativa breve, novela, poesía y ensayo— refleja una intensa conexión con las tradiciones ancestrales y desarrolla un estilo propio que fusiona elementos del realismo mágico con una aguda observación de la vida rural y la psicología del pueblo chino. Su prosa, lírica y reflexiva, integra proverbios, parábolas y enseñanzas antiguas.

Xue Mo aborda temas universales como el amor, la libertad, la muerte, el sentido de la existencia y la relación entre el ser humano y la naturaleza, construyendo un puente entre el pensamiento tradicional y la sensibilidad actual. Reconocido como figura central de la llamada Literatura del Oeste de China, sus obras han sido traducidas a varios idiomas, ampliamente difundidas en medios nacionales e internacionales, y objeto de una recepción crítica sostenida.

Su extensa producción literaria incluye también ensayos culturales que evidencian su capacidad para explorar cuestiones filosóficas y existenciales, y poesía.

Ha publicado más de 70 obras, ampliamente traducidas, distribuidas en más de 60 ediciones internacionales. El cuento El anciano de Xinjiang fue seleccionado por el diario The Guardian como uno de los cinco cuentos contemporáneos más hermosos de la literatura china, lo que subraya la universalidad y belleza de su escritura. 

Actualmente, Xue Mo ocupa el cargo de vicepresidente de la Asociación de Escritores de Gansu, y es director del Instituto de Investigación Cultural Xiangba en Cantón. Además, colabora como experto principal en el Centro de Traducción Literaria e Investigación Intercultural de la Universidad de Estudios Extranjeros de Guangdong. Desempeña funciones como mentor en el Instituto de Investigación de Oncología de Medicina Tradicional en la Universidad de Medicina Tradicional China de Shanghái, así como en el Hospital de Oncología afiliado a la Universidad Fudan.
 

Other activities involving the participant:

A shared look at literature: stories between east and west

Alberto Chimal

Alberto Chimal (Toluca, Mexico, 1970) is a writer and professor of creative writing. In 2002 he won the National Short Story Prize, and in 2014 the Colima Narrative Prize, awarded by the National Institute of Fine Arts of his country; in 2013 his novel La torre y el jardín  was a finalist of the Rómulo Gallegos International Prize; in 2019 his children's book La Distante he received the International Prize of the Cuatrogatos Foundation; in 2021 his novel La noche en la zona M he won the International Book Bank Award, and in 2024 he was awarded the FILEM International Prize for his literary career. His other works are the novels Los esclavos (2009) and The visitor (2022); a score of short story books, of which the most recent is Las estancias secretas (2024); the scripts of the films 7:19 (2016), directed by Jorge Michel Grau, and Confesiones (2023), directed by Carlos Carrera; "Funeral", an illustrated story within the Batman graphic novel: El Mundo (2021), and the fiction podcast La señal (2025). His texts have been translated into a dozen languages and have appeared in international anthologies. He lives in Mexico City; with his wife, the writer Raquel Castro, he maintains a literary dissemination channel on YouTube. In Páginas de Espuma, he has published Los atacantes (2015) and Manos de lumbre (2018).

Other activities involving the participant:

Annual International Storytellers Conference
Annual International Storytellers Conference
A shared look at literature: stories between east and west

Carlota Gurt

Invitado de Honor

Carlota Gurt, born in Barcelona in 1976, has been a translator for more than ten years, and in another life, she worked as a producer for the theatre company La Fura dels Baus and the Festival Temporada Alta. She juggles her real life and her literary life and contributes to various media outlets. Her work includes the short story collection Cavalcarem tota la nit (2019 Mercè Rodoreda Award) and the novel Sola (2020), both of which have been translated into several languages. In 2023, she published the short story collection Biografia del foc.

Other activities involving the participant:

Of families, happy and unhappy in their own way
From where one writes
Annual International Storytellers Conference

Pablo Martín Sánchez

Invitado de Honor

Pablo Martín Sánchez (Reus, 1977) holds a PhD in French Language and Literature from the University of Lille and a PhD in Literary and Artistic Theory and Comparative Literature from the University of Granada. A member of the Ouvroir de Littérature Potentielle (Oulipo), he works regularly as a translator and creative writing instructor. In addition to Fricciones (Frictions) (2024), he has published the novels The Anarchist Who Shared My Name (Acantilado, 2012 (English publication: Deep Vellum, 2018)), Tuyo es el mañana (Yours is Tomorrow) (Acantilado, 2016) and Diario de un viejo cabezota (Diary of a Stubborn Old Man) (Acantilado, 2020), as well as Agatha (2017), co-written with Sara Mesa. His work has been translated into French, English, Czech and Dutch.

Other activities involving the participant:

From where one writes