2024 Program Search
Literary Program
Spain, Guest of Honor
Literary Program
"I'm here for you, no matter what." Friendship
Spain, Guest of Honor
Literary Program
"I'm here for you, no matter what." Friendship
Three thousand two hundred years ago, a Babylonian scribe wrote on eleven clay tablets the story of an indestructible friendship between the tyrant Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, his partner in exploits. Ever since, literature has continued narrating that extraordinary connection between people based on bonds of trust, respect, solidarity and loyalty. But has the concept of friendship and its representation evolved in contemporary fiction? María Folguera and Pol Guasch have looked at this complex universe of affections from its most positive side, a deep relationship of love, to its most destructive aspects.
Participants: Pol Guasch, María Folguera
Moderator: Marta Fernández

Pol Guasch
Invitado de Honor(Tarragona, 1997)
He is the author of Napalm in the Heart (award Premi Llibres Anagrama de Novel·la 2021), which has been translated into Spanish, English, French, German, Italian, and other languages: “A world of desire and survival, after the apocalypse marked by different languages, a repression that is difficult to identify and writing as mysterious as it is beautiful” (Mariana Enríquez).
He has written the poetry books Tanta gana (Francesc Garriga Award in 2018) and La parte del fuego (López-Picó Award in 2021). In 2022, he received the award Premio Talento a bordo at the Eñe Festival in Madrid, and the award Premio 42 Revelación en catalán.
His latest novel is En las manos, el paraíso quema (Anagrama, 2024).
Other activities involving the participant:
Poetry Room

María Folguera
Invitado de Honor(Madrid, 1984) She is a writer and cultural manager. She is currently preparing her fourth novel with a grant for literary creation from the Ministry of Culture. In 2024, she is premiering the stage adaptation of El cuarto de atrás by Carmen Martín Gaite. Other drama projects include Marcela:una canción de Cervantes alongside Leticia Dolera and Celia Freijeiro (2024, on tour), Picasso (rey, monstruo y payaso) for Rhum & Cia (2023), Humanidad:cinco visiones de Goya para circo (2023, Teatro Circo Price) and Safo with Christina Rosenvinge and Marta Pazos (2022). She directs and wrote the tow-piece work Elena Fortún [Sendero Fortún] for the National Drama Center (CDN) (2019-2020) and La guerra según Santa Teresa, which premiered at the Autumn Festival in Madrid in 2018.
She is the author of the novels Hermana.(Placer) (2021, Alianza), Los primeros días de Pompeya (2016, Caballo de Troya) and Sin juicio (2001, Premio Arte Joven de la Comunidad de Madrid; 2002, Visor). She coordinated the anthology Tranquilas.Historias para ir solas por la noche (2019, Lumen), for which she wrote the prologue and a story. She has appeared in various fiction anthologies: (h)amor9 amigas (2024, Continta Me Tienes), Última temporada (2013, Lengua de Trapo) and Bajo treinta (2013, Salto de página).
She received the Premio Valle-Inclán de Textos Teatrales in 2008 for Hilo debajo del agua and the CajaMadrid Narrative Prize in 2011 for Verlaine hijo. She studied Stage Direction at the Real Escuela Superior de Arte Dramático (RESAD) and Theory of Literature at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. From 2018 to 2023, she served as the artistic director of Teatro Circo Price in Madrid. Since 2024, she has been an advisor for projects at the Instituto Nacional de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música (INAEM), the Centro de Documentación de las Artes Escénicas y de la Música (CDAEM) and Acción Cultural Española (AC/E).
Other activities involving the participant:
Journeys. Tribute to Carmen Martín Gaite

Marta Fernández
Invitado de HonorJournalist and writer who studied Journalism at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. She began her career at Diario 16 and Televisión Española (TVE). In 1997, she first appeared on camera on Telemadrid. Two years later, she became part of the founding team of CNN+. She remained with the news channel until 2007. That year, she joined Mediaset to take over the midday news program. She stayed with the Italian group until 2016 as a presenter for Informativos Telecinco and Noticias Cuatro, programs focused on political current affairs and special reports.
A regular contributor to the cultural magazine Jot Down and GQ, she joined El País in 2017.She later collaborated with Vanity Fair, where she directed and presented the book podcast "Nota al pie."Since 2013, she has participated in La Ventana on Cadena SER, and starting this season, she has her own segment on the program "Academia de saberes inútiles." In recent years, she has realized her dream of interviewing the writers she admires most and lending her voice to audiobooks.
She has published a novel, Te regalaré el mundo, and No te enamores de cobardes, a journey through the myths of cinema and literature. Her latest book is a historical essay on imposture: La mentira, Historia de impostores y engañados. However, the literary activity she dedicates the most energy to is being an advocate for Thomas Pynchon in Spain.
Other activities involving the participant:
Encounter with the strange: vibrations, ghosts, homes and insects
Portrait of a time with family
One-way trip from nowhere
The mystery of the imagination that creates (and destroys) worlds
Personal paradises
Speak, wish
Crossroads. Music, poetry and literature
Wednesday, December 04
19:00 to 19:50
Salón 1, planta baja, Expo Guadalajara
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