The City Council of Cerdanyola del Vallès and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona announced yesterday the winners of the 2024 literary awards. Carla Clúa Alcón (Reus) with the work Pausa, sucre, Sevilla, presented under the pseudonym “América”, is the winner of the XV short story prize for young people “Caterina Albert”, endowed with 500 euros. Josep Antoni Aguilar Àvila (València), with the work Ballar amb els espectres, presented under the pseudonym “Sparverius”; and Josep Domènech Ponsatí (Sant Feliu de Guíxols), with the work Eixint de fer, presented under the pseudonym “Armand Polito”, are the ex-aequo winners of the XXIX poetry prize “Miquel Martí i Pol”, endowed with 1,000 euros. Miquel Ribas Figueras (Cabrils) with the work Ilha do Farol, presented under the pseudonym “Nuno Bolotas”, was the winner of the XXX novel prize “Valldaura-Memorial Pere Calders”, endowed with 3,000 euros. In this edition, a total of 192 works have opted for the prizes, of which 25 have participated in the short story, 85 in the poetry and 82 in the novel prize. These figures are the highest since 2002, when the organizers decided to merge their respective contests and start their call for entries jointly. The winning works will be published by the UAB Publications Service and will be presented in November in Cerdanyola del Vallès.

During the ceremony, Carmen Alcolea, member of the jury of the Short Narrative Prize, was in charge of reading the minutes of the meeting of the jury of this same award, where she said that the winning story Pausa, sucre, Sevilla stands out for its “careful style, evocative lexicon, own idiolect and interior monologue”.

For his part, Joan Carles Marset, director of the Publications Service of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and secretary of the jury of the Poetry Prize, explained that this is the first time that a prize has been awarded ex-aequo to two participants. The editor argued that the jury unanimously agreed on the high quality of both works. Specifically, on Ballar amb els espectres, the jury highlights the narrative dimension that gives the poems, with a very intelligent use of different mythological legacies. Likewise, with respect to Eixint de fer, the jury highlighted aspects such as its lexical richness and use of stylistic resources, or its sharp, intellectual and sensual sense of humor.

Finally, Marset read the deliberation of the Novel Prize, where the jury has defended that Ilha do Farol is worthy of the prize for being well written, having a rich language, a prolix style and using the pretext of the apocalypse or the end of the world with a contained and quite original approach. Likewise, the members of the jury agreed that the work shows a taste for narrative, branching out into collateral stories, and that it also makes a notable use of humor or sarcasm, which serves to include elements of social criticism.

The awards ceremony was also attended by representatives of the two institutions organizing the awards, including Javier Lafuente Sancho, Rector of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Rosa María Sebastián, Vice Rector of Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship at the UAB; Margarita Freixas y Alás, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the UAB; Carlos Cordón, Mayor of the City Council of Cerdanyola del Vallès; and David González Chanca, Councilor of Culture, Communication and EMD of Bellaterra of the City Council of Cerdanyola del Vallès.

The actor Carles Cruces presented the event, which was enlivened by the performances of the UAB Chamber Choir and the poetic recital Marçal sentida, by Sofia Oliva (alumni and predoctoral student of the UAB) and Laia Solé (student of the UB), who paid tribute to the work of Àngel Guimerà and Maria-Mercè Marçal, respectively. In addition, the awards ceremony was broadcast live on the YouTube channel of the UAB, where the video of the event will also be published soon.

The 42nd Catalan Book Week will take place from 20 to 29 September and, this year, it will be held, exceptionally, on Passeig Lluís Companys in Barcelona. A central, wide and easily accessible location, ideal for enjoying books and open-air activities.

Once again this year, the Publications Service of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona will be present through the Vives University Network (XVU). New publications such as Les arrels del capvepre, Tot un món en català, Didàctica de la física per a l’educació secundària obligatòria, o Càlcul en variable complexa, will be presented at module number 80, together with other publications from university publishers affiliated with the XVU.

The presentation of the winning works of the Joan Lluís Vives awards for university publishing 2024 is scheduled for Tuesday 23 September. The event will take place at 11:15 am, on stage 1.

Johari Gautier Carmona, journalist and author of the book El hechizo del tren, will give a lecture on February 21, at 7 p.m., in the Audiovisual Room of the Monastery Museum of Sant Cugat del Vallès (Pl. de l'Om, 1).

The talk, entitled "The protagonists of the first railway line in the Peninsula", will be based on his novel, which tells the story of the railroad from its beginnings in Latin America to its arrival in the Iberian Peninsula, through the experiences lived by its main promoters.

The conference is part of the Cycle of Conferences on the World of Trains, organized by the Associació d'Amics del Ferrocarril de Sant Cugat del Vallès and can also be followed live on the YouTube channel of the Federació Catalana d'Amics del Ferrocarril: youtube@canalFCAF6925.

Eduard Roure Blàvia, professor and writer from Lleida, will present his novel El metall i els turons, next Thursday, April 18, at 7 pm, at the bookstore La Fatal (Vallcalent street, 65, 25006 Lérida).

The event will include a reading of several fragments of the book and will be attended by Ester Graell, philologist and teacher; Mariona Roure, photographer and art historian; and the author.

The work is a modern fable, disguised as a thriller or western, and has been the winner of the XXIX Novel Prize "Valldaura-Memorial Pere Calders" of 2023, organized by the UAB and the City Council of Cerdanyola del Vallès. El metall i els turons, as Roure himself points out, is "a modern tale that revolves around the old story of the confrontation with power, in this case, provoked by the awareness for the conservation of the environment".

Eduard Roure Blàvia was born in Lérida in 1973 and teaches Catalan language and literature at the Manuel de Montsuar Secondary School in the same city. His works include: Les altes balconades (Pagès, 1999), Les Talúries prize for narrative; the short novel Lligall trobat a la Cabana (Proa, 2008), finalist for the Pere Calders prize; the novel L'última badia (Pagès, 2012), creation aid prize for the best novel project of the Narrativa Lleida Awards; and the novel La nit de les oques (Viena, 2016), Ciutat de Badalona prize for narrative. Currently, she collaborates as an article writer in the supplement Lectura del diari Segre.

On April 17, Ràdio UNAL, belonging to the National University of Colombia (Bogotà), interviewed Julio Mario Hoyos and Juan Carlos Moreno, Biologist and Philosopher, respectively, and authors of the book Las claves de la investigación Científica, recently published by the Publications Service of the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB).

The interview was included in the program Panorama de la Ciència, produced by the Colombian Academy of Exact, Physical and Natural Sciences, and can be listened to in full at the following link: https://radio.unal.edu.co/detalle/claves-para-entender-la-investigacion-cientifica

Next Friday, April 12, at 7.30 pm, Antonio Loriguillo López will present his book "Anime complejo. La ambigüedad narrativa en la animación japonesa", at the Faculty of Philology, Translation and Communication of the Universitat de València (UV).

The book was published in 2021 and is number 43 of the collection on communication and ICT, Aldea Global, co-published by the Universitat de València, the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, the Universitat Jaume I, and the Universitat Pompeu Fabra.

On the occasion of the recent recognition of the volume with the mention to the "Book where Asian Film, Media and Communication Sciences" in the IBP 2023 Portuguese/Spanish Language Edition granted by the International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS), the author will give this conference, organized by the Consulate General of Japan in Barcelona, Tradiasia Project, Universitat de València, and with the collaboration of Casa Asia, GREGAL-UAB and InterAsia.

About the book

Recognizable to successive generations of viewers around the world for the charm of its character design and simple animation, "anime" arrives in the second decade of the new millennium as one of the ambassadors of Japanese culture, a consumer good manufactured by one of the most important mass culture production centers on the planet. 

But is it a formulaic art, devoid of narrative sophistication? This book proposes an approach to complex narrative in "anime", a key feature in its construction as a cultural identity through series such as Evangelion or films such as Ghost in the Shell. Is this narrative complexity the reaction of producers to the threat of the interactivity of videogames? Does it obey a strategy that uses narrative experimentation in the multi-screen era to focus on its multiple market niches? Or is it the definitive hybridization of previously opposed narrative modes: classicism versus art and essay? 

Through the historical poetics of narrative modes and the tools of filmic analysis of narratology, Antonio Loriguillo suggests a brief chronology of complex "anime" in which we see that its narrative obscurity is key to its establishment as another type of narration in the global commercial audiovisual.

About the author

Antonio Loriguillo-López is Associate Professor at the Universitat Jaume I (UJI) and member of the ITACA research group at the same university, as well as the GREGAL research group (UAB) at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. He teaches in the degrees in Audiovisual Communication and in Video Game Design and Development, as well as in the Official Master in New Trends and Innovation Processes in Communication at the UJI. His research interests focus on post-classical storytelling in contemporary audiovisual and Japanese commercial animation. In this regard, he is the author of the monographs Perfect Blue (Satoshi Kon, 1997): Guía para ver y analizar (Nau Llibres, 2020) and Anime complejo: la ambigüedad narrativa en la animación japonesa (Aldea Global, 2021).

You will find more information at:

From Tuesday 1 to Thursday 3 October, Feria de Barcelona will host the 42nd edition of the International Book Fair (LIBER), promoted by the Federation of Publishers' Guilds of Spain (FGEE).

LIBER is one of the main trade fairs for the export, exhibition and promotion of publishing in Spanish. The event will bring together publishers of all subject areas who will present their bibliographic collections and novelties, and companies with products and services related to the production, marketing and distribution of books, as well as digital content (ebooks, audiobooks, podcasts), and professional associations.

Some of the latest new publications from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), such as Pensar con el paladar. Una estética gustatoria, by Jèssica Jaques and Gerard Vilar; Las claves de la investigación científica, by Julio Mario Hoyos and Juan Carlos Moreno, or Innovación y liderazgo. El nacimiento del código de barras, by Gabriel Izard, will be on display at the fair. As usual, the UAB Publications Service will be present at LIBER through the stands of the Unión de Editoriales Universitarias Españolas (UNE) and Pujol y Amadó Export.

Eduard Roure Blàvia, author of the novel ‘El metall i els turons’, will take part in a unique activity that will combine nature and literature, next 21st September in his town, Torregrossa (Lleida). It is a walk around the village that will culminate with the presentation of the book by the writer.

The work, winner of the XXIX Premi de Novel-la ‘Valldaura- Memorial Pere Calders’ in 2023, organised by the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the Ajuntament de Cerdanyola del Vallès, explores the social conflicts and conflicting interests that exist in a village in the interior of Catalonia. Through a plot rich in intrigue and corruption, the author paints an in-depth portrait of the inhabitants of a tense territory. The walk, which is expected to last about fifty minutes, will start at 5.30 p.m., at Plaça 11 de setembre in Torregrossa, and will end at the Cabana de la partida de Paradell. The activity proposes to visit places that could be scenes from the novel, in a setting that evokes the conflicts described in the work. At the end, there will be a conversation with the author, where participants will have the opportunity to learn more details about the novel and share impressions with him in a privileged natural environment.

Source: https://femllavor.blogspot.com/

On Tuesday 15 October, at 1pm, the Faculty of Law of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) will host the presentation of the InnovaDret Group, as part of the University's Innovation Week.

The conference will include a talk entitled ‘Teaching innovation as the backbone of the Law degree’, given by Dr. Josep Cañabate Pérez, coordinator of InnovaDret; a debate focused on the work in the Service Learning (ApS) modality; and the presentation of the first volume of the book series ‘InnovaDret’, published by the UAB Publications Service last June.

The book is entitled Innovació docent i aprenentatge jurídic. Desafiaments i oportunitats del nou model docent del grau de Dret and gathers the works presented by the professors of the research group in the periodic seminars that have been developed in the same Faculty. The work focuses on teaching innovation within the new model of the Bachelor's Degree in Law and aims to share experiences and tools to improve teaching practice.

More information about the conference at: https://webs.uab.cat/setmanainnovacio/activitats-2024/innovadret/

One hundred and ninety-two works have been accepted for this year's short story, poetry, and novel competition. The jury's decision will be announced on May 28.

Participation in this year's literary awards has increased at a very high level. The deadline for entries closed last February and a total of 192 original works were submitted, 82 of them for the novel prize, 85 for the poetry prize and 25 for the short story prize. These figures are the highest since 2002, when the organizers -the City Council and the University- decided to merge their respective contests and start the competition together.

This year, the 15th “Caterina Albert” Short Narrative Prize for Young People, worth 500 euros; the 29th “Miquel Martí i Pol” Poetry Prize, worth 1,000 euros; and the 30th “Valldaura - Pere Calders Memorial” Novel Prize, worth 3,000 euros.

Currently, the members of the juries of each category are reviewing the works and the verdict will be announced on May 28, at 4 pm, at the awards ceremony to be held at the Auditorium of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the UAB. The event will be attended by: Javier Lafuente Sancho, Rector of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Rosa María Sebastián, Vice-rector of Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship of the UAB; and Margarita Freixas i Alás, Dean of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the UAB. Regarding the City Council, the event will be attended by: Carlos Cordón, Mayor of the Cerdanyola del Vallès City Council; and David González Chanca, Councilor of Culture, Communication and EMD of Bellater.

The event will be recorded and can be followed live on the UAB YouTube Channel.

Tributes to Àngel Guimerà and Maria-Mercè Marçal

The organization of the awards wishes to pay tribute in this edition to Àngel Guimerà (1845-1924), the Catalan playwright who has enjoyed the greatest international projection and one of the great poets of the Catalan 19th century, coinciding with the centenary of his death and the commemoration of the Guimerà Year by the Department of Culture of the Generalitat de Catalunya. In fact, the City Council of Cerdanyola already paid tribute to the 100th anniversary of the death of Àngel Guimerà to the 23rd Marathon of reading, which organized last April 23 for St. George. In this line, the assistants to the awards ceremony will be able to enjoy a performance dedicated to Guimerà's work, by the UAB Chamber Choir, conducted by Poire Vallvé.

On the other hand, the event will also recognize the work of the poet and feminist activist, Maria-Mercè Marçal (1952-1998), through the poetic recital Marçal sentida, which will be given by Sofia Oliva Sabater and Laia Solé Moreno, predoctoral researcher in Greek Philology at the UAB and student of Fine Arts at the UB, respectively.