The writer Josep Vallverdú has answered this Thursday to questions from fifth grade students at Escuela Alba de Corbins (Segrià), in an activity organized as part of the Vallverdú Year that commemorates his centenary.
The narrator, poet and linguist from Lleida has explained anecdotes and reasons that have led him to dedicate himself to literature and the boys and girls have not missed the opportunity to recite poems they have written to him.
The Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, has described the experience as “wonderful” since one of the objectives of this year dedicated to the writer is to make his figure known in all the schools in the country. Vallverdú has a strong link with the center because it was founded by his first wife, Isabel Arqué.
It was Vallverdú himself who chose Escola Alba to participate in this activity, but he stressed that going to any school is always “interesting to go” to “capture” what the students are like and what they have in common as well as what is particular.
Vallverdú has recalled that after his first wife founded the Escola Alba, he visited her often. This Thursday’s meeting with a group of students helped him to verify that they are “very smart” although he pointed out that nowadays “they are smart everywhere.”
The students had been preparing for this meeting for days and that is why they did not want to miss the opportunity to use their imagination and create poems that they recited to the writer. Some poems that Vallverdú has listened to very carefully and that he has described as very “inspired” which for him shows that “children are on the right path.”
Noemí Badia, 10 years old, has described the experience of being able to talk with Vallverdú as “very exciting” due to the fact that he is a person who has managed to reach the age of one hundred and is also a “famous writer”. He has also said that it has been an experience that he will never forget and that she was happy that Vallverdú had signed her notebook.
The Minister of Culture, Natàlia Garriga, recalled that on the occasion of the Vallverdú Year they are carrying out many activities everywhere to the point that at some moments they are becoming “overwhelmed.”
In this sense, the councilor said that there was a lot of interest in getting Josep Vallverdú “to enter all the schools in Catalonia”, but since it was not possible to make him visit all the centers, an audiovisual has been edited with an interview with the writer that serves to make him known. The video is aimed at fifth and sixth grade students and Vallverdú explains why he writes, when he started and what topics he liked.
