• Author programme featuring Catalan and British authors, translators and illustrators
• Professional programme to foster relationships between the Catalan, UK and international publishing communities
• Part of a wider initiative to promote Catalan culture in the UK

London. Friday 17 December. The Institut Ramon Llull (IRL), the public organisation promoting Catalan language and culture internationally, in collaboration with the Catalan Institute for Cultural Companies (ICEC), will join forces with The London Book Fair 2022 to present a Catalan Culture Spotlight at the most important global gathering of the book industry in the Spring (5-7 April).

Separate to the Market Focus programme, LBF’s Catalan Culture Spotlight programme is designed to showcase the exciting opportunities that the region has to offer the global publishing audience, to forge connections between Catalan publishers, authors and illustrators and the global books scene, and to bring the depth and breadth of Catalan culture and literature to an international stage.

As part of a wider campaign to promote Catalan language and culture internationally, the Catalan Culture Spotlight will showcase outstanding authors, poets, illustrators, translators and literary experts, with a series of panels, Q&As, readings and beyond. The Institut Ramon Llull will work closely with Catalan publishers and translators to select a delegation of authors to attend LBF 2022, in addition to a wider events programme across the UK.

The cultural programme will run alongside a matchmaking programme, a series of professional meetings taking place during the Fair and sponsored by the IRL, the ICEC and LBF, aimed at fostering relationships between Catalan and English-speaking publishers and agents.

From commercial fiction to children’s books, to poetry – which has seen a huge growth in translations into English in the past five years – the programme will celebrate the richness and diversity of Catalan literature. In 2020, the global turnover of books in Catalan was €246 million (up from €237 million in 2018), with literary fiction and poetry representing a significant proportion (21,5%), followed by children’s books (18,7%) and non-fiction (8,9%) (source: Gremio de Editores & Associació d’Editors en Llengua catalana).

Pere Almeda, Director Institut Ramon Llull, said: “The Spotlight programme will be a milestone in our ongoing strategy to promote Catalan culture internationally. The goal of the programme is both literary and professional: to raise awareness and to intensify the translation of Catalan literature into English, which has been increasing in recent years. With an outstanding cultural tradition and a vibrant contemporary scene, Catalan literature has already found a global reading community. After being featured as Guest of Honour at Frankfurt, Bologna and Paris, we are certain that now is the time for Catalan literature to step into the limelight in the English-speaking world.”

Andy Ventris, Director of The London Book Fair, said: “We’re delighted that this year LBF’s Spotlight will shine on Catalan literature. There are so many wonderful authors and illustrators from the region that have yet to be discovered by the wider publishing community and we are excited to have the opportunity to raise their profile. The initiative will also provide a chance for UK and international publishers to discover exciting new areas to grow their audiences.”

In its aim to promote Catalan culture abroad, the Institut Ramon Llull collaborates with universities, language centres, institutions, festivals, art centres and museums internationally, as well as being the official body certifying linguistic competence in Catalan through language examinations. In addition, the Institut actively promotes the translation of works of Catalan literature, by working closely with publishers, agents, authors and translators.