Any time is a good time to immerse yourself in a literary route, but the festive atmosphere prior to Sant Jordi invites you to do so even more. Some contemporary writers invite you to discover many of those novel spots in Barcelona that have become so popular, telling some curiosities and hiding a signed copy of their latest works for the intrepid reader who comes across them first.
Clara Queraltó is one of them. The winner of the Llibres Anagrama de Novel·la award for her book Com un batec en un micròfon recognizes that “without Mercè Rodoreda she would not write.” The first thing she read by the author, at the age of sixteen, was La plaça del Diamant, which tells of her life during the Second Republic, the Civil War and the post-war period with the help of Natalia, 'la Colometa'. “Understanding the importance of how to make a character speak and think was revealing.” In homage to this fiction, the sculptor Xavier Medina-Campeny placed a statue in this same square in Gràcia that pays homage to said protagonist.
The hard years that Rodoreda captures become tangible in the walls riddled with shrapnel of the church of Sant Felip Neri. As paradoxical as it may sound, peace reigns there today, since few people leave the tourist circuit of the Gothic quarter. Perhaps, while writing The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafón found that same calm that encouraged him to take the young Daniel Sempere there. It is a place that does not leave Maria Nicolau indifferent either, who leaves a copy of Cremo! in a corner. The writer and cook admits that she is “especially excited” that her latest book, which “is not about cooking, but about adventures,” can be discovered by someone in the middle of a literary route. “And more, in such a literary stimulating place.”
Just a ten-minute walk away is the Continental Hotel, where George Orwell and his wife stayed during the Civil War, and the place where the recent Planeta winner, Sonsoles Ónega, left a volume of The Daughters of the maid. Located in the heart of Barcelona, this hotel had such a deep impact on the writer that he even mentioned it in Homage to Catalonia. There are still many travelers who come there to learn more about this famous guest, who “was an exceptional spectator of the Barcelona of the war,” says the presenter, who hopes “to be able to reach all this Sant Jordi, which “I arrive with tremendous desire.”
The journey continues through Manuel Vázquez Montalbán Square, located between San Rafael Street and Rambla del Raval. It is impossible to talk about Barcelona without mentioning the creator of the detective Pepe Carvalho, who grew up in the Raval and lived very close to this point, on 11 Botella Street, where he has a commemorative plaque. It is likely that the writer would laugh if he came across returning to his old house with a book that Eduardo Mendoza had left there, whose dedication is simple as well as direct: “he who reads it is a fool.” Mendoza has explained on more than one occasion that wherever he was invited in the world, he always had to answer the question “What is Mr. Vázquez Montalbán doing now?” And that, for that reason, he often reproached him: “Manolo, they have put you in the world to humiliate me.” And Manolo answered: “Yes, but you are taller.”
In the Ciutat Vella district there is also the Marsella bar, where artists like Dalí, Picasso or Gaudí and writers like Hemingway hung out. Although the place is worth a visit, it is another establishment that Rodrigo Fresán visited this week to leave The Style of the Elements (Random House): the Belvedere bar, in the Mercader passage number 3. “It is my usual bar and many writers and people from the publishing world have always gotten together, such as Roberto Bolaño, Enrique Vila-Matas, Ignacio Echevarría, Jorge Herralde or Lali Gubern,” confesses the Argentine writer. The barman, Ginés, who named a cocktail after one of his novels, Mantra, also adds the frequent visits of Eduardo Mendoza.
In a nearby street, at number 41 Bailén, lived Montserrat Roig, an author especially claimed in recent times and rediscovered by the youngest. Not only are her works such as El temps de les cireres (1976) or La hora violet (1980) appreciated, but also her commitment to feminism. It therefore makes complete sense that Ansia (Planeta) is there, the latest book by the comedian and screenwriter Henar Álvarez, another firm defender of women's rights who is hoping to live this April 23 in style, since “I have never been to Barcelona for Sant Jordi and I want to live that passion that people feel for reading.”
Another point to take into account is the Pere Calders passage, which Ramón Gener, musical popularizer and Ramon Llull winner for Historia de un piano, has approached. Calders is considered one of the greatest writers in the Catalan language of the 20th century. His stories, with one foot in everyday life and another that navigates towards the unexpected, have awakened the imagination of writers and also musicians, who have found inspiration in his stories to compose their songs, as Judit Neddermann did at the time. .
Some poems by Salvador Espriu were also set to music. Many Barcelonans do not know that those known as Jardinets de Gràcia are actually called Salvador Espriu Gardens and that they were built in 1929 by the architect and garden designer Nicolau Maria Rubió in homage to the Catalan poet and playwright, Honorary Prize winner of the Catalan Letters in 1972. A few meters away is the Palau Robert, where Fernando Aramburu, who has just published El Niño (Tusquets), usually hangs out when he visits Barcelona. “It's a good idea to leave one of my books there, because it's sure to be picked up by someone who appreciates nature and birdsong as much as I do.”
Another green spot “ideal for bookcrossing”, according to Blue Jeans, considered an expert on the subject after carrying out several of these actions, is the Turó Park or park of Eduard Marquina, Spanish poet, novelist and playwright, in which they are There are several literary references, such as the sculpture La ben plantada, in the main grass area, which pays tribute to the writer Eugeni d'Ors.
And in Sarrià-Sant Gervasi, do not forget that Gabriel García Márquez also lived, at 6 Caponata Street, where the lack of neighborhood unanimity leaves the Colombian's house without distinction; and just a few meters away, at 50 Osi Street, Mario Vargas Llosa coincided at the same time, both under the auspices of his literary agent Carmen Balcells. What better place than the confluence of both streets for Clara Obligado, another Latin American author , hide a dedicated copy of his latest book, Three Ways to Say Goodbye (Páginas de Espuma). A title that helps put an end to this journey.
