The world is suffering from a pandemic, and when it is in retreat – relative, what a remedy – a war begins not too far away that makes everything more difficult, even turning on the heating. We've gotten so used to it that we've almost normalized it, but three years ago we would have said it's fantasy, right? The Deputy Mayor for Culture of the Barcelona City Council, Jordi Martí, said yesterday that "there is more fantasy in reality than in fiction itself", and at his side Ricard Ruiz Garzón claimed that fantastic genres are a spearhead to explain reality.
It was the presentation of the second edition of '42, the Barcelona Fantastic Genre Festival, which will be held next week, from October 2 to 6 at Fabra i Coats, with 84 activities by up to 225 participants from here and of all the world. Beyond focusing on the names – Ruiz Garzón, curator, although he does not like the word, already warned that we would have problems to headline with so much to choose from – they tried to explain the axes from which the programming has been made, such as diseases and how they affect the creative process, a theme with a tradition in fantasy, without forgetting that guests such as Tade Thompson or José Carlos Somoza are psychiatrists, and Gustavo Martín Garzo, Carlos Pitillas or Ismael Martínez Biurrun, psychologists.
The youth aspect will also be present, bearing in mind that while the stigma that it is not for adults is avoided, it is a gateway to the new reading public, more so bearing in mind that beyond books there are universes full of comics, series and movies and video games.
There will be five days full of conferences, round tables –on climapunk, for example–, tributes –Paco Porrúa, Miquel Barceló or Rosa Fabregat–, exhibitions –Terry Pratchett and Italo Calvino–, shows, workshops and a live podcast. And even more names, yes, like Pep Albanell –who will star in the opening conversation–, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Aliette de Bodard, David Mitchell, Jordi Sierra i Fabra, Annabel F. Steadman, Xavi Ayén, Maite Carranza, Josep L. Badal, Núria Perpinyà , Jaume Valor, Lauren Beukes, Rodrigo Fresán, Max Besora, Christian Guay-Poliquin, Javier Calvo... Of everything and for everyone.
Catalan version, here
