ACN Barcelona - The president of the Llegir en Català association, Francesc Gil-Lluch, celebrated this Wednesday that the first ten years of the organization demonstrate that there is a "different" way of working based on collaboration in the publishing world and that it has been achieved that Catalan literature can compete "head to head" with any other culture. In a press conference to assess the anniversary, he acknowledged that getting this far has been a "surprise" and applauded the fact that they have become a "firm" association, with "committed" publishers and with "close" contact with the sector. Llegir en Català will celebrate 10 years with an event at La Setmana del Llibre with Els Bookhunters and, later on at a date to be determined, they will hold a public celebration.
Gil-Lluch explained that Llegir en Català's "different" way of working involves collaboration and the exploitation of talent to ensure that there are the best literary works in Catalan. "Once the time has passed, we have succeeded", he celebrated.
During the press conference, the former president of the association Laura Huerga said that throughout this period there has been a "very beautiful and useful" evolution. "All the publishing houses of the project have grown and strengthened. We have become better, we have criticized each other and we have helped each other", he pointed out. "The project has been possible thanks to the trust and generosity of each other", he concluded.
For her part, former president Núria Iceta recalled that the aim was not only to sell more books but also to "contribute to the sector as a whole". Among others, he mentioned promoted projects that have encouraged cooperation with bookshops or education.
Iceta recalled that throughout these years there has been a commitment to the language. "We want to publish well and have more readers in Catalan," he pointed out. They also explained that the reader in Catalan is "of great quality and quality". "The reader never fails", said Gil-Lluch.
"In these 10 years the book in Catalan has improved a lot. We have expanded possibilities, genres and we have left the classic frameworks of Catalan literature", explained Huerga.
On the possibility of evolving the association into a large publishing group with the dozen labels that are part of it, Iceta has said that this could be a "failure". "Sharing initiatives is much more useful", he said. "The printing press required us to unify formats. We are more authentic the better we can do our job", he set an example.
Gil-Lluch has analyzed the difficulties they have had over the years and said that when they created the association they suffered "emotional and cultural". "You move in an environment of negativity. They didn't understand that in the middle of the economic crisis you were opening a new window", he recalled. They have also said that during the covid-19 pandemic they suffered because the organization's activities and commitments declined.
The association was born 10 years ago with the aim of disseminating editorial news in an internet blog. Profiles were subsequently opened on social networks that have not stopped growing until they exceed 20,000 followers on X (Twitter). The 12 companies that are part of the project share services and advice.
