Josep Maria Pou: "Reading is an act of resistance"

“What would my life have been like if I hadn't been lucky enough to be born in a house where there were so many books?”, asks Josep Maria Pou at the Romea Theatre.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
21 November 2022 Monday 13:46
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Josep Maria Pou: "Reading is an act of resistance"

“What would my life have been like if I hadn't been lucky enough to be born in a house where there were so many books?”, asks Josep Maria Pou at the Romea Theatre. He has just received the Atlántida award from the Gremi d' Editors de Catalunya. Pou claims the reading: "A habit, a vice that has conditioned my whole life." During the 37th Nit de l'Edició, the actor also claimed that although "they often think that the actor is a simple being who acts more by instinct than by knowledge, they also forget that the actor is obliged to read incessantly He is a great reader."

He has also remembered his father's library, his sanctuary, where he read voraciously, so much so that they made him stop reading, so that he would sleep, and in his first act of rebellion and interpretation he would read at night under the covers. "I claim letter injured in the exact sense of the expression": once a book was thrown at him and he broke his toe. "I like to think that reading is an act of resistance, because opening a book is always a peaceful action, and reading a book is always an act of peace," he claimed, just turned 78. It is a recognition of more than 50 years of experience as an actor and director, but also of his work as a translator and theater adapter, as well as his relationship and affection for the world of books.

Playwright Guillem Clua has previously glossed it in a gala presented by Cristina Riba. The Fernando Lara Memorial Prize, awarded by the Book Chamber, has also been awarded to the publishing house Flamboyant, and the Ángel Crespo translation prize, awarded by ACEC, to Pablo Martín Sánchez.

Previously, the 25th anniversary of Ediciones Cáñamo was celebrated –which have claimed the right to be drunk, while asking themselves what they had smoked the day they decided to join the union–, which contrasted with the 50th anniversary of the Center for Liturgical Pastoral and Editorial Base. Editorial Reverté has celebrated its 75th anniversary, and La Salvatella, neither more nor less than its centenary. Joan Salvatella has recalled that they have gone through wars, crises and a pandemic, but they remain independent as a family business that is already in its third generation, with the fourth being prepared.

The president of the guild, Patrici Tixis, began by talking about the elves, because without the madness for publishing, such a party would not be held. Tixis has spoken of a slowdown, especially with the announcement of the recession in Europe, but has wanted to vindicate the resilience of the sector hand in hand with bookstores and bibliodiversity, in addition to insisting on increases in youth reading rates and the drive of the audiobook, without forgetting to thank the administrations for their support. But just as he has thanked campaigns such as "Fas sis anys, tria un llibre", the cultural bond of the Ministry of Culture and the National Plan for Books and Reading, he referred to the dilution of humanities subjects in the study plans, as well as the fact that the Department of Education has postponed the new educational plans, a fact that compromises the investment of many textbook publishers, as well as claimed, once again, the increase to 2% for culture in the budgets .