Featuring the slogan "Catalonia, Land of Books, Barcelona, City of Literature" and operating under the ICEC's internationalisation brand, Catalan Arts – Books, alongside IRL, the stand aimed to raise the international profile of Catalan literature and publishing, present a unified image of the sector and provide professionals with a highly convenient business space in which to conduct their activities.

For the fourth consecutive year, IRL and ICEC organized a professional matchmaking programme that took place on Tuesday 10 March to facilitate meetings between Catalan publishers and literary agents and their British and American counterparts, with the aim of fostering new opportunities for the English translation of Catalan literary works. The seven Catalan companies taking part that year were: the Foreign Office, MB Agencia Literaria, Silvia Bastos Agency, Grup 62, Asterisc Agents, Ute Körner Agency and Quaderns Crema.

At 1 p.m. on Tuesday, the Delegation of the Government of Catalonia to the United Kingdom and Ireland, together with ICEC and IRL, hosted a reception to officially open the stand and foster networking between the Catalan delegation and international professionals attending the fair.

On Wednesday 11 March, IRL hosted a roundtable session on non-fiction translation for industry professionals, Imagine Non-Fiction: the form and its politics, which took place at the Literary Translation Centre. The event featured writer Anna Pazos and Fitzcarraldo publisher Jacques Testard and was moderated by journalist Georgina Godwin. Furthermore, Catalan-to-Polish translator Karolina Jaszecka played a leading role in the session Translators as agents: a solution for less translated literatures?, which was held a day earlier at the same venue and was organised by the European network ENLit, of which IRL held the vice-presidency.

The 26 Catalan publishers exhibiting at the stand from 10 to 12 March were:

Animal Sospechoso Editor, Barcanova Editorial, Blume Editorial, booq Publishing, Ediciones Minotauro, Ediciones del Serbal, Edicions el Pirata, Edicions La Fitorra, Edicions UIB, Editorial Anagrama, Editorial GG, Editorial REM, Editorial RM, Editors, Grup 62, Hoaki Books, Inclusive Reading, Jande Editorial, Larousse Editorial, Loft Publications, Manifest Llibres/Verso Libros, Mosquito Books Barcelona, Obrador Editorial, Quaderns CremaAcantilado.

In addition, ten Catalan literary agencies participated in the International Rights Centre: Antonia Kerrigan, Asterisc Agents, Carmen Balcells, Casanovas & Lynch, MB Agencia Literaria, Sandra Bruna, Schavelzon & Graham, Silvia Bastos, The Foreign Office and Ute Körner.

ICEC produced a brochure featuring information on the publishers, literary agencies, associations and institutions attending the fair; it was distributed to accredited international professionals to boost their visibility.

Fair attendees also had access to the Catalogue of Catalan Illustrators, which featured over 250 published profiles, providing sector professionals with access to work samples and showcasing a wide diversity of styles. Additionally, they were able to consult the Catalogue of Catalan Publishers, which contained details on nearly 150 publishing houses.

One of the world's most important publishing events

The London Book Fair is the most important spring book fair in the international publishing calendar. It is an exclusively trade event, specialising in rights trading and the distribution of content across multiple channels: print, audio, television, film and digital media.

It provides a unique opportunity to explore, understand and incorporate the innovations shaping the future of the publishing sector. It also offers attendees an extensive programme of talks and debates on the key issues affecting the book industry.

The fair announced that from the following year it would relocate to the renowned Excel London exhibition centre to provide better spaces and services for participants, and also revealed the dates for the next edition, which will run from 16 to 18 March 2027.

The participation of Catalan publishers and literary agents at the fair is part of the Department of Culture's ongoing initiatives to promote Catalan literature and the internationalisation of publishers in this field. To this end, the Department of Culture, through ICEC and its internationalisation brand Catalan Arts – Books, regularly attends major trade events in the book sector, hosting institutional stands at fairs such as the London Book Fair (United Kingdom), the Bologna Children's Book Fair (Italy), the Buenos Aires International Book Fair (Argentina), the Frankfurt Book Fair (Germany) and the Guadalajara International Book Fair (Mexico).

IRL promotes Catalan literature abroad by supporting the translation and promotion of Catalan-language works and authors into other languages, and through a constant and growing presence at international fairs and festivals. In 2026, the Institut Ramon Llull will attend thirteen international book fairs. In recent years, there has been a sustained increase in grants awarded for translation, illustrated works, promotion, editorial production, author mobility, promotional materials and translator residencies. In 2025, the figure reached 581.