Ernest Folch (Navona i Folch
Eric del Arco, president of the Booksellers' Guild of Catalonia, Documenta bookseller, joins the conversation, who points out that to a certain extent he thinks it's good, but that it will always depend a lot on Easter. The trend of Sant Jordi is getting longer in recent years. He also assures that yes, that this year everything points to it being a fantastic year, because the weather will be so good and it's been noticeable for days.
The party at La Vanguardia was also a party for publishing, from the great bosses of Grup Planeta, Josep Creuheras, and Penguin Random House, Núria Cabutí, to historic independent publishers such as Jordi Herralde d'Anagrama, Josep Cots d 'Editions from 1984, or more recent, such as Luis Solano from Libros del Asteroide or Eugènia Broggi from L'Altra Editorial. There is also the president of the Federation of Publishers Guilds of Spain, Daniel Fernández, or the president of the Chamber of Books and the Publishers Guild, Patrici Tixis. Tixis chats with Albert Serra, who tells him about a literary night he will remember for the rest of his life.
Not all closed deals, of course it's not about that, but about sharing.
"Anyone who is interested in culture can find editors and writers of all levels here," says Anagrama editor Isabel Obiols, speaking of the London Fair, from where she arrived on Friday, as some how many of those present Obiols talks about the excitement of the day: "It's the best day of the year, and I can't remember any Sant Jordi that I didn't have a great time".
Pilar Beltran, from Edicions 62, also comes from London, but asks about the concert of the Malalletra writers' group at the Ona bookshop: there are some of the participants, such as Marta Carnicero, Ada Castells or Jordi Campoy. The agent Carlota Torrents remembers that a few years ago, on the last day of the Frankfurt Fair, a group of Dutch publishers, Half on Signature, had played. The name is because in some contracts half of the down payment is charged when the contract is signed.
Belén López, editorial director of Planeta, talks about the good expectations. Laura Gamundí, Planeta's non-fiction editor, has a lot of confidence in Carme Elias's book, Quan deixe de ser jo, because it is a book written from an emotional point of view.
Joan Carles Girbés, editor of Ara Llibres, jokes that if he has to talk about interesting things it will be about his town, Carcaixent. Think of the last Sant Jordis, from the confinement to the crescendo of last year, and this one must be spectacular, even more special. Rosa Rey, from Angle, says it will be a magnificent year.
Counting three 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 an opinion shared by many editors that despite the storms last year was very good and this year must be better. Dardik comments on the latest news about the LibriRed database, which has changed the playing field for small publishers, as this newspaper reported yesterday. A theme present in several conversations, such as that of Josep Cots (Editions of 1984) and Román de Vicente (Urano).
