The deadline for submitting manuscripts for the 2025 Literary Awards, organised by the Cerdanyola del Vallès Town Council and the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), ended on 7 February.

The following is the composition of the jury for the current edition of the awards.

JURY OF THE XXXI PREMI DE NOVEL-LA ‘VALLDAURA-MEMORIAL PERE CALDERS’ OF 2025

Núria Balagué Mola (Barcelona, 1958) has a degree in Hispanic Philology and Italian Philology and a PhD in Documentation from the University of Barcelona. She has been assistant director of the Library Service of the Autonomous University of Barcelona and lecturer in the Department of Library and Information Science at the University of Barcelona.

Joan Mañas López (Gualba, 1970) holds a degree in Literary Theory and Comparative Literature from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and is the owner of the second-hand bookshop El Pergamí Vell. He has participated as a juror in several novel awards and is the author of the novel Arqueologia de l'amor, awarded the Just Casero de Girona Prize in 2006.

Arià Paco Abenoza (Igualada, 1993) holds a degree and master's degree in philosophy from the University of Barcelona. Since 2025, he also holds a PhD in Philosophy from the University of Arizona, where he has been an assistant professor for five years. He has published three novels: Mentir a les mosques (2020), Covarda, vella, tan salvatge (2022) and Teoria del joc (2025, Anagrama Novel Prize). He collaborates with various cultural media and podcasts.

Miquel Ribas (Barcelona, 1972). He has a degree in Cultural Anthropology and a master's degree in Audiovisual Scriptwriting. Professor of Social Sciences with extensive teaching experience, he has devoted his free time to writing various works of fiction for children, young people and adults. His two latest works are the historical novel Rei de Sicília, príncep de Sardenya and Ilha do Farol.

David Vidal Castell is a lecturer in the Department of Media, Communication and Culture at the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), journalist and literary critic (ARA newspaper). Director and founder of the Master's Degree in Literary Journalism, Communication and Humanities at the UAB. Doctor in Communication (Alteritat i presència, 2002), the Consell de l'Audiovisual de Catalunya (CAC) awarded him the prize for research in media and culture in 2005 for his essay El malson de Chandos and has received the Lleida Narrative Award (La fulla a punt de caure, 2007) and the Gaudí Award for the script of the film Petitet (2019).

JURY OF THE XXX PREMI DE POESIA ‘MIQUEL MARTÍ I POL’ OF 2025

Josep Gerona Fumàs (Sabadell, 1956) holds a degree in History and is a secondary school teacher in Sabadell. He currently combines his dedication to painting with writing in Catalan and Spanish. He is founder and member since 2001 of the group of poets from Sabadell Papers de Versàlia, a collective that works in different initiatives to promote and disseminate poetic creation. Their publications include: Mnemòsine amnèsica (2006), Quan deixaré de creure (2000), Àlbum de noses (2001), Trompar l'ull (2004), Hospital General (2007) i La vida original (2007).

Josep Domènech Ponsatí (Sant Feliu de Guíxols, 1966) is a poet and translator. As a poet he has published Cap a un dic sec (2004), Desdiments (2006), Apropiacions degudes & cia (2007), El Càcol (2015), Preqüela (2018), El coeficient de flotabilitat (2023) and Rotija (2024). In 2024 he was the joint winner of the XXIX Premi de Poesia ‘Miquel Martí i Pol’, organised by the UAB and the Ajuntament de Cerdanyola del Vallès, with his work Eixint de fer. As a translator from Portuguese he has published works by Clarice Lispector, Graciliano Ramos, Lima Barreto, Armando Freitas Filho and Hilda Hilst, among others. He has twice won the ‘Giovanni Pontiero’ Translation Prize, and once the ‘Jordi Domènech’ Poetry Translation Prize.

Josep Antoni Aguilar Àvila (Xàtiva, País Valencià, 1979) is a lecturer in Catalan language and literature at the Universitat Catòlica de València ‘Sant Vicent Màrtir’. His research focuses on medieval Catalan chronicles: he has published a large number of articles and studies on Ramon Muntaner, Bernat Desclot and other historiographical texts from the 13th-14th centuries. His annotated edition of the Chronicle of Muntaner was awarded the ‘Ramon Aramon i Serra’ Prize of the LXXX Cartell de Premis Sant Jordi of the Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2011) and the Extraordinary Doctorate Prize of the Universitat de València (2012), and has been published in the ‘Biblioteca Filològica’ collection of the IEC (2015). On the literary side, he is the author of three collections of poems: Els rims de guerra d'Ezzelino da Romano (València: Denes, 2022), Quatre mots (Premi ‘Josep Grau i Colell’ 2023) and Ballar amb els espectres (XXIX Premi de Poesia ‘Miquel Martí i Pol’ 2024).

Juan Carlos Otero (Sabadell, 1968) is a secondary school language and literature teacher. He won the Jocs Florals de Cerdanyola del Vallès in 1991, 1992 and 1993. In subsequent years, he participated as a member of the jury for the same prize. His poetry publications include L'hàbil escomesa (Reus, 1991, runner-up for the Gabriel Ferrater Prize), La cort de les mudances (Algemessí, 1993), Dilapidàvem les hores felices (Terrassa, 1995, Calassanç Prize) and El buen veneno (Rubí, 2024). His forays into narrative are Terrores nocturnos y otras fábulas para jóvenes (Cerdanyola, 2005) and Quadern de la selva (Cerdanyola, 2008).

Laura Ortensi (Roses, 1991). Journalist, teacher, philologist, criminologist, young woman, poet and aspiring subsidiary. She has published the book of poems Matar la madre (Hinojo, 2021), which won the 22nd Joan Duch Poetry Prize for young writers. He has also recently participated in the essay Màtria o barbarie (Ángulo, 2024) and has just published La marca del anzuelo (Jefe de brote ediciones, 2024).

JURAT DEL XVII PREMI DE NARRATIVA BREU ‘CATERINA ALBERT’ DE 2025

Carmen Alcolea has a degree in Hispanic Philology (1996), a postgraduate degree in Foreign Language Teaching (1997) and a degree in Social and Cultural Anthropology (2013) from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. For two decades, she has been teaching Secondary Education and Baccalaureate. She is the author of a novel.

Carla Clúa Alcón (Tarragona, 1996) is a journalist with a master's degree in International Relations - European Studies. She has worked in various Catalan written and audiovisual media, although she currently lives in Genoa (Italy), where she works in the environmental communication sector. He has received several literary prizes, among which the following stand out: Premis Literaris de Constantí (2024), Premi Bolleré (2023), Premi Alt Urgell de Joves Autors - Homilies d'Organyà (2023) i Relats de Dones de Tarragona (2023, 2022 i 2021). In 2024 he won the XV Premi de Narrativa Breu per a Joves ‘Caterina Albert’, organised by the UAB and the Ajuntament de Cerdanyola del Vallès, with the work Pausa, sucre, Sevilla.

Martí Gironell i Gamero (Besalú, 1971), a Catalan journalist and novelist, holds a degree in Journalism from Pompeu Fabra University and in English Philology from the University of Barcelona. He has worked at Ràdio Besalú, Ràdio Olot, Catalunya Ràdio and TV3. He collaborates in the media such as El Punt Avui, La República and L'Illa dels Llibres. His books include El pont dels jueus (2007), which has been translated into several languages; La venjança del bandoler, which won the Nèstor Luján Historical Novel Prize in 2008, and La força d'un destí, winner of the Ramon Llull Prize in 2018.

Xusa Serra has a degree in Anthropology, a postgraduate degree in Thanatology and a master's degree in Nursing and Health Research. She is a nurse at the Unit of Support for Illness, Grief and End of Life at the General Hospital of Catalonia and is also a therapist at the Grief Group of the Association of Women for Equality of Cerdanyola del Vallès. She teaches the workshop ‘Ara sí que sé a les escoles’ and is the author of the book I, també em moriré?

Anna Pallejà Franquet (Tarragona, 2006). She has never stopped reading all kinds of books. What began as a secret diary has gradually become her great passion: writing. Nowadays, he combines literature, studies, music and family. Her work Tres missatges per oblidar-te, won the XIII Premio de Narrativa Breu per a Joves ‘Caterina Albert’, awarded by the Ajuntament de Cerdanyola del Vallès and the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, in 2022.

On Wednesday, 17 December, the Master’s Degree in Literary Journalism, Communication and Humanities of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), in collaboration with the UAB Publications Service, held the award ceremony for the 6th UAB Literary Journalism Award, which this year was presented to Laura Serrat Casamitjana, from Manresa, a former student of the Master’s programme. The event, held at the Faculty of Communication Sciences, also served to announce the launch of a new editorial series devoted to narrative journalism.

The UAB Literary Journalism Award recognises unpublished works of narrative journalism and documentary literature written in Catalan and has become a platform for promoting new voices in the field. In this sixth edition, the jury particularly highlighted the literary quality, journalistic rigour and narrative strength of the work submitted by Laura Serrat Casamitjana.

The ceremony was attended by UAB institutional representatives, including Virginia Luzón, Vice-Rector for Communication; David Vidal, Director of the Master’s Degree in Literary Journalism, Communication and Humanities, and Joan Carles Marset, Head of the UAB Publications Service, as well as members of the jury, students and family members.

A new editorial series

The UAB Publications Service will publish the winning work in both print and digital formats, inaugurating the new editorial series Literary Journalism. This new series aims to provide continuity to the Award and to establish a stable space for the publication of high-quality works of narrative journalism and documentary literature.

The Literary Journalism series reinforces the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona’s commitment to the promotion of the Catalan language, the dissemination of knowledge, and the dialogue between academia and the professional world of journalism, enabling works produced within the university context to reach a wider audience.

Since its inception, the UAB Literary Journalism Award has sought to recognise novelistic reportage and unpublished works of documentary literature, while fostering creativity, critical thinking and narrative excellence in journalism.

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.

From Tuesday, October 7 to Thursday, October 9, IFEMA MADRID will host the 42nd edition of the International Book Fair (Liber), promoted by the Federation of Spanish Publishers’ Guilds (FGEE).

Liber is one of the main trade fairs for the export, showcase, and promotion of publishing in Spanish. The event will bring together publishers from all fields, presenting their catalogues and new releases, as well as companies offering products and services related to book production, marketing, and distribution, in addition to digital content (e-books, audiobooks, podcasts), as well as professional associations.

Some of the latest editorial releases from the Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB), such as Economía circular. El camino hacia la sostenibilidad, de Joan Rieradevall i Carles Gasol; Feminismo no es sexismo. Conversaciones sobre género y desigualdad, de Marc Barbeta-Viñas i María Jesús Izquierdo; o Pensar con el paladar. Una estética gustatoria, by Jèssica Jaques and Gabriel Vilar, will be showcased at the Fair.

As usual, the UAB Publications Service will be present at Liber through the stands of the Union of Spanish University Publishers (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/

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.

From May 29 to June 14, the 85th edition of the Madrid Book Fair will take place. The Publications Service of the Autonomous University of Barcelona will showcase some of its new releases for the 2025–2026 academic year at the stand of the Spanish Association of University Presses (UNE).

This year, the fair once again highlights the strategic space of the Science and Universities Square, which since 2023 has enhanced the presence of university presses and research centres.

On this occasion, the UAB publishing house will present titles such as The Autumn of Antiquity, by Javier Arce; Feminism Is Not Sexism. Conversations on Gender and Inequality, by María Jesús Izquierdo and Marc Barbeta; and Circular Economy. The Path Towards Sustainability, 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: