Ernest Folch (Navona y Folch
Èric del Arco, president of the Guild of Llibreters de Catalunya, Documenta bookseller, joins the conversation, who points out that to a certain extent it seems good to him, but that it will always depend a lot on Easter. The trend of Sant Jordi is already getting longer in recent years. He also assures that yes, that this year everything indicates that it will be a fantastic year, it has been noticeable for days.
The La Vanguardia festival was also a publishing festival, from the leading men of Grupo Planeta, Josep Creuheras, and Penguin Random House, Núria Cabutí, to historical independent publishers such as Jordi Herralde, from Anagrama, Josep Cots, from Edicions de 1984, or more recent, like Luis Solano, from Libros del Asteroid, or Eugènia Broggi, from L'Al tra Editorial. There is also the president of the Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain, Daniel Fernández, or that of the Chamber of Books and the Publishers Guild, Patrici Tixis. Tixis chats with Albert Serra, who tells him about a literary night that he will remember for the rest of his life.
Not everyone closed deals, it's not about that, it's about sharing.
"It is that anyone who is interested in culture can find editors and writers of all levels here," says the editor of Anagrama Isabel Obiols, who speaks of the London Fair, from where she arrived on Friday, like a few of the present. Obiols talks about the illusion of the festivity: "It's the best day of the year, and I don't remember any Sant Jordi that I didn't have a super good time".
Pilar Beltran, from Edicions 62, also comes from London, but asks about the concert by the group of writers Malalletra at the Ona bookstore: there are some of the participants, such as Marta Carnicero, Ada Castells or Jordi Campoy. The agent Carlota Torrents remembers that some years ago the last day of the Frankfurt Fair played a group of Dutch publishers, Half on Signature. The name is because in some contracts half of the advance is charged when the contract is signed.
Belén López, editorial director of Planeta, talks about the good expectations. Laura Gamundí, non-fiction editor at Planeta, puts a lot of trust in the book by Carme Elias Cuando ya no sea yo, because it is a book written based on emotion.
Joan Carles Girbés, editor of Ara Llibres, jokes that if he has to talk about interesting things it will be from his town, Carcaixent. He thinks of the last Sant Jordis, from the confinement to the crescendo of last year, and this one has to be spectacular, even more special. Rosa Rey, from Angle, says it's going to be a great year.
Three counted drops fall, which almost no one has noticed.
"After last year's miracle, if nothing happens over time it can be very strong," says Alejandro Dardik, from Club Editor. It is a view shared by many publishers that despite the storms, last year went very well and this one has to be better. Dardik comments on the latest news about the LibriRed database, which has changed conditions for small publishers, as this newspaper reported yesterday. A topic present in various conversations, such as that of Josep Cots (Edicions de 1984) and Román de Vicente (Urano).
Catalan version, here
