From 6 to 13 May, Barcelona will become the capital of poetry with the Barcelona Poesia Festival. Organised by the Institut de Cultura de Barcelona, through the programme ‘Barcelona UNESCO City of Literature’, and commissioned by Maria Callís and Manuel Forcano, the festival will offer an intense programme of recitals, concerts, tributes and performative actions in more than twenty venues – including for the first time El Born – Museu d’Història de Barcelona and the Museu de l’Art Prohibit – and presents a line-up with names such as the Canadian poet Anne Carson, the multidisciplinary artist Laurie Anderson and the British Raymond Antrobus, among around forty national and international participants.

The festival will open its doors on Tuesday, 6 May, at Paral·lel 62, with an inaugural speech by poets Jordi Oriol and Carles Pedragosa, titled “Poseu-hi cor que farem maig” (Put your heart into it and we’ll make May bloom). Afterwards, Laurie Anderson, a key figure on the New York experimental scene, will present the project Progress, a fusion of music, poetry and visual narratives that explores themes such as love, justice and memory.

On the following day, 7 May, the Saló de Cent at Barcelona City Hall will host the award ceremony of the Jocs Florals Poetry Prize, presented to Joan Deusa for his work Ítaca arrasada. Deusa, a young poet from Valencia, has been recognised for his ability to renew poetic tradition with a contemporary voice. The event will also feature a literary review of the year 2024 and a tribute to the poet Josep Maria Llompart, marking the centenary of his birth, delivered by poet and curator Jaume C. Pons Alorda. Additional events centred around Llompart will also take place as part of Barcelona Poesia.

Fusions and Linguistic Diversity

This year, the festival will stand out for its international outlook and commitment to minority languages. For the first time, it will collaborate with the EUNIC (European Union National Institutes for Culture) network  to bring together poets from across Europe. A multilingual recital will take place on the evening of 7 May, featuring Soratze Gorga, Lucie Joy, Jean Poncet, Mariangela Gualtieri and Ulrike Almut Sandig. Barcelona Poesia will also include a poetry performance in Catalan Sign Language at El Born – Museu d’Història de Barcelona (11 May, 5 pm), led by Montserrat Rusiñol and Eiden Sánchez. On 12 May, two events will be dedicated to Galician poetry, with Lupe Gómez, Eduard Velasco and Nuria Vil taking part in the first, and Manuel Rivas, Sol Mariño and Pablo Caamiña in the second.

The festival will also emphasise the fusion of poetry and music, with performances such as that of Josep Tero at the Verger of the Frederic Marès Museum (8 May, 9 pm), where he will interpret poems by Maria Mercè Marçal and Joan Salvat-Papasseit. The Tàpies Museum will host Tarot sonat (8 May at various times), a performance combining tarot, music, and live poetry. Meanwhile, the Museu d’Història de Barcelona – Via Sepulcral Romana will offer a reading of Latin epigraphic poetry by Mónica Miró Vinaixa (8 May, 7 pm).

From Anne Carson to Pere Gimferrer

At the CCCB, Anne Carson will offer a recital-concert-performance on 12 May (6:30 pm) entitled A lecture on pronouns & The Cycladics, with audiovisuals and dance. At the Verger of the Frederic Marès Museum, Mireia Calafell and Nil Ciuró will explore the limits of electronics and poetry. And la Mediterrània and Versopolis will build bridges: on Sunday, 11 May, Elizabeth Grech and Adnan Özer will engage in dialogue with riverine poetry. and a few days before, on 8 and 9 May, Versopolis will hold a translation slam and multilingual evenings with Raymond Antrobus, Maria Giulia Pinheiro and other voices.

This edition of Barcelona Poesia also aims to celebrate the career of Carme Riera, with a conversation with the author and a recital of both her poetry and prose. The event will take place at the Ateneu Barcelonès on Monday 12 May at 7:30 pm. Likewise, a tribute to Pere Gimferrer will be held in the year of his 80th anniversary: a recital on 8 May at the Verger of the Frederic Marès Museum with three poets chosen by Gimferrer himself: Perejaume, Josep Pedrals and Vicenç Altaió.

La Nit del Palau

As is tradition, the Barcelona International Poetry Festival, now in its 40th edition, will close the Barcelona Poesia event. It will be an evening at the Palau de la Música, under the artistic direction of Clara Aguilar, with poets from around the world taking to the stage: Anne Carson, Shota Iatashvili, Lupe Gómez, Márton Simon, Berta García Faet, Ana Blandiana, and Adrià Targa. The recital will take place on 13 May at 8:00 pm.

Check out the full Barcelona Poesia programme on the official website.