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/

The linguist, professor, and researcher M. Teresa Espinal has just published the second online electronic version of the Diccionari de Sinònims de Frases Fetes (DSFF), which incorporates an in-depth revision and update of the printed work.

The Diccionari de Sinònims de Frases Fetes (DSFF) is a work that connects concepts with lexicalized expressions of diverse grammatical nature—what traditional grammar has generically referred to as idioms and fixed expressions. For each expression, the author provides various grammatical and linguistic information, as well as semantic relations with other lexicalized expressions.

The first edition of the printed work was published in 2004 by the Publications Service of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Publications of the Universitat de València, and the Publications of the Abadia de Montserrat, with the collaboration of the Department of Education and Culture of the Government of the Balearic Islands and the Department of the Presidency of the Government of Catalonia. In 2006, a second updated edition was published, which remains the latest printed version available and can also be consulted in open-access electronic format.

The printed edition of the DSFF included a CD-ROM that expanded the functionalities of the work. Over time, however, as its software requirements no longer matched the computer systems currently on the market, the author, with the collaboration of software developer Pere Orga, released the first online electronic version of the dictionary, launched in 2018.

This year, with the collaboration of Pere Orga and proofreader and translator Maria Coll Amengual, Espinal is making available the second online electronic version of the Diccionari de Sinònims de Frases Fetes. It incorporates a thorough revision and update of both the printed work and the first electronic version. Fifty-four percent of the initial entries have been revised and improved. This version also includes a significant expansion of concepts and lexicalized units: 5,800 conceptual entries, 19,600 lexicalized expressions, and 23,200 distinct records—making it the most comprehensive dictionary of fixed expressions in the Catalan language.

M. Teresa Espinal Farré is Professor of Linguistics at the UAB, PhD in Hispanic Philology (UAB, 1985), and ICREA Acadèmia research fellow (2010–14, 2016–20), with a distinguished career in research on the syntax-semantics interface. Among her most notable works, in addition to the Diccionari de Sinònims de Frases Fetes (2004 and 2006; 2nd electronic edition in 2025), are the edition of Semántica (Akal, 2014), the co-edition of The Oxford Handbook of Negation (Oxford University Press, 2020), and the authorship of numerous specialized articles on negation and negative concord, bare nominals, vocatives, among other topics, in international journals. She has received the Narcís Monturiol Medal for scientific merit (2020) and was elected member of the Academia Europaea (2023).

The 84th edition of the Fira del Llibre de Madrid will be held from 30 May to 15 June. The Servei de Publicacions de la Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona is exhibiting some of its new publications for the 2024-2025 academic year at the stand of the Unión de Editoriales Universitarias Españolas (UNE).

This year, the fair revalidates the strategic space of the Plaça de la Ciència i les Universitats which, from 2023, improves the presence of university publishers and research centres.

On this occasion, the UAB publishing house will present titles such as Pensar amb el paladar. Una estética gustatoria, by Jèssica Jaques and Gerard Vilar; Feminismo no es sexismo. Conversations on gender and inequality, by María Jesús Izquierdo and Marc Barbeta, and Economía circular. El camino hacia la sostenibilidad, by Joan Rieradevall and Carles Gasol.

El País dedicates an article to the fight against climate change in Africa led by the young people of generation Z in recent years. The article highlights, among other current issues, the constant alarm that the continent has been suffering since the seventies, and mentions the examples that Johari Gautier lists in his book África: cambio climático y resiliencia. Retos y oportunidades ante el calentamiento global, published in 2022 by the UAB Publications Service.

You can consult the article at the following link:

Doctors Joan Rieradevall Pons and Carles Gasol Martínez will talk about their book ‘Economía circular. El camino hacia la sostenibilidad’, on Thursday 5 June, at 6 p.m., at the Mundana space in Barcelona (Calle Aribau, 34).

Coinciding with World Environment Day, the authors will talk with the co-founders of the shop, Anna and Jaume Colomer, about the policies, indicators, tools and innovation strategies that reduce the environmental impact of consumption, and which are carried out in this space located in the heart of Barcelona's Eixample.

The event is part of a programme that the space has organised for 4 and 5 June, which also includes other activities such as special sales, with the presence of fashion and accessories designers Cristina Korres and Joan Sales (Dino JSJ).

A sustainable pairing

Since its founding in June 2019, Mundana as been committed to responsible sales and consumption, with durable products that are not governed by trends. Its founders have conceived the shop as a meeting place ‘for those who make and for those who are looking for products outside the usual circuits’. In this way, the space at Calle Aribau 34 is a refuge offering a selection of icons that transcend time, and new interpretations of the most everyday standards. Origin aside, Mundana believes in a sustainability linked to the use and maintenance of the products, fleeing from those articles that the trend makes perish too early.

A perfect pairing with the book ‘Economía circular. El camino hacia la sostenibilidad’, which proposes the circular economy as one of the decisive strategies for achieving sustainable development. In the book, professors of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering Joan Rieradevall Pons and Carles Gasol Martínez present case studies, indicators, tools and strategies for innovation, prevention and minimisation of resources, as well as examples of circular eco-design and global improvement of products and services to demonstrate that a completely circular future is possible.

The UAB Publications Service has been responsible for publishing the book, which is available in paper format for a fee and free open-access electronic format.

Dialogue on the book ‘Circular Economy. On the road to sustainability’.

Day: Thursday, 5 June

Time: 6 p.m.

Place: Mundana (Calle Aribau 34, 08011 Barcelona)

Please confirm your attendance at: info@mundanalife.com

The Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and the City Council of Cerdanyola del Vallès have announced a new edition of the Literary Awards for 2025. The original works can be submitted from Friday 13 December via the form on the competition's website.

The cultural event, which aims to promote the dissemination of original and unpublished works written in the Catalan language, will be held once again this year with the following types of prizes and financial awards:

• XXXI ‘Valldaura-Memorial Pere Calders’ Novel Prize, worth 3,000 euros. 
• XXX Prize for Poetry ‘Miquel Martí i Pol’, with a prize of 1,000 euros. 
• XVI ‘Caterina Albert’ Short Narrative Prize, with a prize of 500 euros. 

The deadline for submission of original works is Friday 7 February 2025. As usual, the method of submission will be via an online form on the website of the awards, where you can also consult the rules for each award and follow the news of the evolution of the contest.

The winners of this new edition will be announced at an awards ceremony to be held in May.

The winning books of 2024 

The winning works of the 2024 edition, Ilha do Farol, by Miquel Ribas Figueras; Ballar amb els espectres, by Josep Antoni Aguilar Àvila; Eixint de fer, by Josep Domènech Ponsatí; and Pausa, sucre, Sevilla, by Carla Clúa Alcón, have been published by the UAB Publications Service and can now be purchased in print and electronic format on the website of the university publishing house (the short narrative work is only available in open access electronic format).

From 16 June to 30 September, the sixth edition of the Literary Journalism Prize will be open, with which the Master's in Literary Journalism, Communication and Humanities of the UAB, in collaboration with the Publications Service, distinguishes novel-lat reports and unpublished works of documentary literature in Catalan. The rules can be consulted on the website of the master's degree. The winning work will be announced in December.

The Master's Degree in Literary Journalism, Communication and Humanities at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) was created in 2012 in response to the need for a broad and consistent training in communication and humanities. The studies stand out for making use of its own methodology in quality journalism and writing resources in composition and style. In 2013, the Master's degree promoted the 1st UAB Literary Journalism Award with the aim of recognising the best works of documentary literature and novel-lat reportage arising from the final master's degree projects (TFM) of its students, with participation open to everyone. Since then, the different editions of the award have been organised with the collaboration of several private publishers, such as Editorial Base and Ángulo Editorial. The 6th Literary Journalism Prize will have the participation of the UAB Publications Service, which will be in charge of publishing and distributing the winning work in paper and digital format.

According to the new 2025 rules, the works submitted must be unpublished, written in Catalan and have a length of between 130,000 and 170,000 characters (including white spaces). The deadline for submitting original works opens on Monday 16 June and closes on Tuesday 30 September.

Over the years, the jury for the Prize has been made up of Master's lecturers who are also writers, such as Miqui Otero, Juan Pablo Villalobos, Esteve Plantada, Eileen Truax and Begoña Gómez Urzaiz, and other important writers on the national and international literary or journalistic scene, such as Leila Guerriero, Gaby Martínez and Txell Feixas, among many others. The jury of this sixth edition will be made public before the closing date and its verdict will be announced at a prize-giving ceremony in December 2025, in a place to be determined.

Previous calls for entries and winning works

The prize has been held biannually since 2013, the first two times with the collaboration of Editorial Base, which published two anthologies of the winning pieces. The first was Cuando encuentres a Malinowski y otros relatos de periodismo literario (2013), with pieces on the investigation of an old Argentinian poet lost in Barcelona in the 1970s, the ETA attack on the petrochemical plant in Tarragona and the text, both funny and tragic, about an enterprising housewife who, faced with the crisis, decides to open a brothel in her own home. The second call for entries (2015) gave rise to Ritmos para el paraíso, also with three stories: one about the survival of migration in Barcelona, another that investigates a case of flagrant (and terrible) miscarriage of justice, and a last one that deals with the tradition of post-war children in the Ebro of collecting scrap metal from the final battle of the Civil War, a custom that became a lifelong hobby and true domestic museums, a very different approach to the war conflict.

The last three calls for entries for the Prize have been made with Ángulo Editorial, which has published the winning works: 23 días de diciembre, by Marc Amat, a mystery case about the death of a relative; Menors i migrants, by Marina Sonadellas, a social worker in a centre for migrant minors, which was also published in Spanish by Polen Editorial; and La Bodega, by Miguel Peña, about the closure of the famous Rafel bar in the Sant Antoni market, which deals with the gentrification and touristification of Barcelona through the closure of a historic bar where twenty-four hours were spent, a work inspired by Joseph Mitchell's mythical work on the oldest bar in New York. Dozens of works have also been published that have not won in recent years, but which are of high quality. Some of the most recent are Las niñas de Elna, by Marc Solanes, or Santa Carolina, by Julieta Morales.

Data

6th Literary Journalism Prize

Organised by: Master's Degree in Literary Journalism, Communication and Humanities at the UAB.

In collaboration with: Publications Service of the UAB

Entries: from 16 June to 30 September 2025

Rules and further information: https://periodisme-literari.uab.cat

The Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology (FECYT) has published the ninth call for the Evaluation of the Editorial and Scientific Quality of Spanish Academic Journals. On the FECYT website you can consult the Participation Procedure and the Evaluation Guide to apply for the call. The deadline for applications opened on 10 March and will close on 10 April 2025. The provisional list of journals will be published in July 2025.

The main new features of this edition are:

• In order to renew the FECYT Seal, it will be compulsory to take part in the process and pass the evaluation of the editorial quality criteria.
• The validity of the Seal of Quality and the Mention of Good Practice in Gender Equality has been extended from one to two years.
• The visibility and impact indicators have been disaggregated.
• The sources of measurement have been changed, in line with open science practices.
• New editorial quality assessment criteria for recommended compliance have been added.
• The evaluation of the gender perspective has been improved.

In addition, for this edition, a plugin compatible with OJS 3.2x and 3.3 has been developed, designed to automate the downloading of the documentation required in the accreditation process for obtaining and/or renewing the FECYT quality seal. This plugin is already available for the whole community at this link, and it is already available for all UAB journals managed with OJS.

The UAB journals that obtained the Quality Seal in the previous call (eighth) were: Bellaterra Journal of Teaching and Learning Language & Literature, Dante e l'Arte, Rubrica Contemporanea and Tradumàtica. In addition to the recognition of editorial and scientific quality, the journals Bellaterra Journal of Teaching and Learning Language & Literature and Tradumàtica obtained the Mention of Good Practices in Gender Equality.

Currently, the UAB has a total of 26 accredited journals.

On 19 November, the Research, Transfer and Innovation Commission of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) approved the call for grants for the publication of scientific research journals (REV2025-2028), with the aim of encouraging their constant improvement, guaranteeing their economic stability, promoting their dissemination and visibility, and increasing their scientific and academic impact.

This aid programme is based on the signing of programme-contracts between the journals and the Vice-rectorate for Innovation, Transfer and Entrepreneurship of the UAB, linked to the fulfilment of objectives, and with the aim of providing stable institutional support that allows the journals to work to progressively improve (or maintain) their quality standards.

This year, scientific research journals published or co-published by the UAB that are recognised in the official UAB Directory of Scientific Journals can apply, which guarantees that the journals registered meet the minimum requirements to be considered UAB publications.

Interested research groups, departments, institutes or centres of the UAB can consult the call for applications and the procedure for the allocation of grants on the website of the Publications Service and the UAB Research Calls Portal. Grants can be applied for from 1 December to 15 January by submitting the specific form at the UAB Electronic Office.

Desinformación y poder. Alquimias de la persuasión is the latest title in the ‘Aldea Global’ collection, which is co-published by the university publishers: Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Universitat Jaume I, Universitat Pompeu Fabra and Universitat de València. The book is the work of Raúl Rodríguez Ferrándiz, Professor of Semiotics of Mass Communication at the University of Alicante, who specialises in post-truth politics, disinformation, conspiracy theories and ‘fake news’.

In Desinformación y poder. Alquimias de la persuasión, the author dismantles the slogan ‘information is power’, to open our eyes to a current media society where truth has become the true value that is traded on the market: it is privatised, viralised and monetised without any relation to the facts. This book provides a brief introduction to ‘trumpology’, the Cambridge Analytica case and computational propaganda, the Pizzagate case and the role of Wikileaks, but also refers to those who contribute to polarisation by attacking immigration, feminism or LGTBI rights. It discusses the content (in)moderation strategies of Facebook and X, and the advertisers who fund, often unwittingly, pseudo-media that spread misleading news or promote hate, the conspiracies that lied with the ‘plandemia’ story when the virus arrived, and now continue to deny climate change or scare with the Great Replacement. It analyses our penchant for rumours and novelistic lies and for sharing them for a handful of ‘likes’. Finally, a coda is dedicated to the DANA that hit the province of Valencia and Trump's second victory in the US elections.

The work has been selected by the Unión de Editoriales Universitarias Españolas (UNE) to star in the twenty-sixth episode of its podcast ‘Libros para comprender’. The episode is a conversation with Raúl Rodríguez Ferrándiz and Maite Simón, author and editor of PUV (Publicaciones de València), respectively. The programme can be listened to on the main podcasting platforms (Spotify, Apple Podcast, YouTube Podcast and iVoox) and also seen on YouTube Podcast, through the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1daLMPUbjk.

On Thursday 13 February, at 7 p.m., the book will be presented at the Documenta bookshop in Barcelona (Carrer de Pau Claris, 144), with the following speakers: Virginia Luzón Fernández, Professor of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising and Vice Rector of Communication at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Catalina Gayà Morlà, Serra Hunter Lecturer in the Department of Media, Communication and Culture at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and member of the Board of Aldea Global; and Raúl Rodríguez Ferrándiz, Professor of Semiotics of Mass Communication at the University of Alicante and author of the book.