Institut Ramon LLull

Sant Jordi in London at Borough Market on Sunday 22 April

Culture.  London, 22/04/2018

Sant Jordi / St George is celebrated both in England and Catalonia. In recognition of this, the Catalan Government and organisations join up once again with London Borough Market to present a festive day of arts, roses and books on Sunday 22 April 2018 from 12pm to 4pm. Newham Bookshop will join us once again with a book stall with translations of Catalan literature. Free event, all welcome! 

 




The romantic Catalan custom of exchanging roses and books with their loved ones will be one of the attractions of the Catalan stand at Borough Market. The idea could not be simpler: traditionally men offered roses to women and in exchange for the flowers the women gave books as gifts. Nowadays, both men and women exchange books and roses. 
So books could not be missed at this festivity!

Once again, Newham Bookshop and Institut Ramon Llull will bring a book stall to the market, which will sell some of the most important English translations of Catalan literature. 

Mercè Rodoreda’s Death in Spring (translated by Martha Tennent and Introduction by Colm Tóibín), Alicia Kopf's Brother in Ice, and more will be sold during our Sant Jordi celebration. Death in Spring was published by world-renowned publisher Penguin on 5 April 2018. Brother in Ice will be published by And Other Stories on 23 April 2018. 

We will also have a book signing by Catalan poet Noèlia Díaz Vicedo. Noèlia Diaz Vicedo is a poet, academic and translator. She has published her poetry in various magazines in Spain and USA (Quadern de les idees, les arts i les lletres, Trafika Europe: Penn State University, Reduccions: Girona, Kokoro: Barcelona). Her poems have also appeared in Donzelles de l’any 2000, antologia de dones poetes dels Països Catalans (Editorial Mediterrània, 2014) and also in Autisme, trenquem el silenci amb la poesia (Editorial Viena, 2014). She has performed her poetry around UK and Spain (National Poetry Day London Waterstones, 2014, Surrey Poetry Festival, 2014, Setmana del llibre en Català, Barcelona, 2013, La poesía española en el siglo XXI, Madrid, 2017, Jocs Florals Cambridge, 2014,etc.). As a translator she has published along with poet Montserrat Abelló the book The Body’s Reason (Francis Boutle Publishers, 2014) by Maria-Mercè Marçal from Catalan and poems by several authors included in the magazine Alba Londres. Culture in Translation where she was a co-editor (2011-2015).


There will be a rich cultural programme, with the support of the Catalan community in the United Kingdom: performances by the London Catalan Choir, Castellers of London, who will show you the art of making Catalan human towers, and performances with some storytelling of the legend of St George and the dragon. Moreover, Escola Catalana (Catalan School, in English) will offer a dragons workshop for kids. 

In parallel, Jocs Florals prize awarding will take place at CatalansUK stand.

Finally, and for the first time this year, the Catalan community in London will commemorate the work of Muriel Casals by honouring her daughter with the Carrasco i Formiguera medal.

 

Free event

​St George’s Day: the Catalan day of love and culture
Borough Market
Sunday 22 April // 12pm to 4pm

 

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