It is an indisputable fact that Màrius Serra is the king of wordplay. However, what the public at large may not know is that his passion for playing with words and making us think and laugh with them was prompted by his early readings in the fantastical genre. Cortázar’s palindromes were the catalyst that sparked his interest in both wordplay and genre literature. In fact, Serra has always claimed that non-realistic genres are the perfect tool for creating and imagining precisely because they break with reality. Likewise, his wordplay aims to break the straitjacket of our reality in order to compose new ones. 

In this opening lecture, the special format that is kicking off the 3rd edition of the festival, the author will tell us how his career has been influenced by authors like Cortázar and Gianni Rodari, a master of fantasy and young adult literature and, like Serra, a playful, tireless writer who is always changing the rules, creating new ones and building new realities.