Lluïsa Cunillé is currently one of the most famous dramatists in Catalan theatre, and her work already occupies an esteemed place in the Catalan theatrical landscape of the last 20 years. On the 5th December one of her most famous works, “Islàndia”, will be presented, in the framework of the event organised by the Queen Mary Centre for Catalan Studies. Performed by the company PartSuspended, directed by Hari Marini and translated from Catalan by John London, it narrates the journey that an Icelandic teenager undertakes to New York in order to find her mother, a journey which will expose her to the misfortunes and destitution of Western society in the 21st century.
Before this performance, though, there will be a talk with the director of the NTC, Xavier Albertí, and the dramatist and theatre director Jordi Prat i Coll in the setting of research seminars. The function is the result of collaboration between the NTC, the IRL, PartSuspended and the Queen Mary CCS.
Queen Mary University of London introduced teaching of Catalan language, literature and culture to their university in the 1989/90 academic year, and since this point has continually driven teaching in the aforementioned areas. Under the direction of Professor John London, the centre encourages the establishment of links between Catalan studies researchers through the organisation of seminars, conferences, conversations and publications on a variety of disciplines, and encourages the training of new researchers.
Some of the standout initiatives include Writer in Residence, which has welcomed writers such as Najat El Hachmi, Gaspar Jaén and Narcís Comadira, among others, as well as projects to do with academic research, such as Visiting Research Fellow, Academic-in-residence, Visiting translator and Research Fellow, with the participation of professors including Ronald Puppo, Pilar Godayol, Sam Abrams, Dolors Udina, James Hawkey, Rhiannon McGlade and Mercè Picornell, amongst others.