Round table
Grec 2021. The journey continues: Africa
Thursday, 17 June, at 6 pm
Guinardó - Mercè Rodoreda Library
Round table presented by journalist Xavier Graset on Barcelona’s Grec 2021 Festival. In the first part, he’ll be talking to Francesc Casadesús, the festival's director, about this year’s edition. The second part will focus on several aspects of African cultures, with three professionals from that continent taking part: Saiba Bayo, a Senegalese political scientist; Aziza Brahim, a Sahrawi singer and actress; and Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel, a writer from Equatorial Guinea.
Prior registration required (limited places
Online book clubs
The Barcelona Library Network offers three reading clubs linked to the Grec 2021 programme. All three will enable their participants to interact with the presenters through an instant messaging app and by video conference. A different way of reading and talking about literature, using new technologies.
To take part, you’ll need a mobile device (phone or tablet), and follow the steps below:
- Install Tellfy on your device and register as a user.
- Request admission to the club from the corresponding link (there’s a separate one for each club).
- Once you’re in, you'll need to borrow the book in digital format (the documents come from the eBiblioCat digital library).
'Carrer Robadors'
Reading club starts: Tuesday, 8 June
Final video conference: Tuesday, 22 June, at 7 pm
Register at:
tfy.to/bibliotequesbarcelona/carrerrobadorsgrec
Writer Anna Ballbona hosts a reading club on the book Carrer Robadors / Rue des voleurs, by Mathias Enard. The play will be coming to the Grec - directed by Julio Manrique and adapted by Marc Artigau and Sergi Pompemayer. This production, which officially opens this year's edition of the festival, tells a story that combines the harsh realities of immigrants’ lives with periods of hope and beauty.
'Pedro Páramo'
Reading club starts: Thursday, 1 July
Final video conference with Pau Miró: Thursday, 22 July, at 7 pm
Register here
The Mexican writer Eduardo Ruiz Sosa will be hosting a reading club on Juan Rulfo's Pedro Páramo, a fundamental work in 20th century Latin-American literature. He’ll be talking over a period of three weeks about the literary work and Pau Miró’s adaptation of it for the Grec.
'Ve, cuéntaselo al sol'
Reading club starts: Thursday, 22 June
Final video conference with Wame M. Molefhe: Tuesday, 13 July, at 7 pm
Register her
The editor and translator Federico Vivanco will be hosting a book club on the work Viene, cuéntaselo al sol / Go tell the sun, by Botswana author Wame M. Molefhe, who will be taking part in the final video conference. Set in Botswana, the author's stories reflect the concerns of a society in constant turmoil, and how social conflict, tradition, modernity and customs are perceived from the perspective of women. Readers from the Barcelona Library Network and the Casa África's headquarters in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria will be participating in this reading club.
In collaboration with: Casa Àfrica
Storytelling
Contes africans sota l’ombra d’un arbre I
Monday, 5 July, at 6 pm
Horta – Can Mariner Library
Read by Agnès Agboton
The first part of a set of stories about the African continent, stories that tell us the whys and wherefores of things through the lens of local and entertaining ancestral wisdom. Stories to listen to shaded by a tree or in the library's garden.
Limited places, allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Contes africans sota l’ombra d’un arbre II
Monday, 12 July, at 6 pm
Sant Antoni - Joan Oliver Library
Read by Agnès Agboton
They have a saying in the Côte d'Ivoire that goes: ‘the leaves of a tree are recognised in its shade.’ We recognise other cultures through stories in just the same way. And this is exactly what we’ll be doing in this second set of African narratives: local and entertaining stories of ancestral wisdom.
Limited places, allocated on a first come, first served basis.
Creences i llegendes de la cultura mandinga
Monday, 19 July, at 6 pm
Sofia Barat Library
Read by Koumera Diakhaby
Taking as his starting point a book of short stories for children he himself has written , Koumera Diakhaby will be talking about the Mandingas, an ethnic group spread throughout West Africa, especially in Senegal, Mali, Gambia and Guinea Bissau, whose traditions include many legends, songs and dances.
Limited places, allocated on a first come, first served basis.
