Ledicia Costas

Invitado de Honor

(Vigo, 1979) is one of the most recognized and translated authors of Galician literature, with works in languages such as Persian, Korean, Italian and Bulgarian.

She published her first novel, Unha estrela no vento, in the year 2000. Since then, she has published 30 works of children's and young adult fiction, adult literature, and poetry, which are still being printed by Edicións Xerais de Galicia, Anaya, Destino and Nórdica Libros, among other leading Spanish publishers.

In the field of children's and young adult literature, she has received notable awards, like the Premio Nacional de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil, presented to her in 2015 by the Ministry of Culture for her work Escarlatina, la cocinera cadáver.

She twice won the award Premio Merlín de Literatura Infantil, and she is the only person in the history of the Lazarillo Award (the oldest in children's and YA literature in Spain) to have won it three times, the last time in 2022 with La liebre mecánica.

In 2020, she received the Premio da Cultura de Galicia de Creación Literaria award, the youngest person to receive it in the history of the award, and in 2023 she received the Medalla Castelao from the Galician regional government, in recognition of her contribution to culture throughout her career.

Internationally, she has received prizes such as The White Ravens Award, presented by the Library of Munich, and been included in the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Honor List.

In 2022, she returned to poetry with the work Ultraluz, winner of the prestigious 20th Premio de Poesía Afundación award.

Her work for adults includes the novels Infamia (2019), Golpes de Luz (2021) and Piel de cordero (2024).

Other activities involving the participant:

Journeys. Tribute to Ana María Matute

Jordi Sierra i Fabra

Invitado de Honor

Born in Barcelona in 1947. His connection with rock music (he directed and in many cases founded some of the leading Spanish magazines in the genre in the 70s: Disco Expres, Popular 1, Super Pop, etc.) established his reputation. He published his first book in 1972. Since then, he has written 600 works in all genres, many of them best sellers; he has won 60 literary awards, received hundreds of honorable mentions and appeared on multiple honor lists, and his works have been translated into more than 40 languages.

In 2006, 2010, 2020 and 2022, he was nominated by Spain for the Youth Nobel, the Hans Christian Andersen Award. In 2007, he received the Spanish Ministry of Culture's National Literature Award, the Cervantes Joven in 2012, and in 2013 the Iberoamerican Prize for all his work and the social work of his foundations. He also received the Gold Medal of Merit in Fine Arts in 2017 and the Creu de Sant Jordi in 2018.

His works have sold over 15 million copies. Tireless, romantic, sentimental and passionate traveler, he considers himself a utopian possibilist and a lover of the written word and the freedom that entails.

In 2004, he created the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation in Barcelona, and the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Writing Workshop Foundation in Medellin, Colombia, as the culmination of a career and his ethical and social commitment. Ever since, every year a prize is given to a young writer under 18. In 2010, his Foundations received the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award, the most important in the world, and in 2015, the Barcelona Medal of Honor.

www.sierraifabra.com

Other activities involving the participant:

Conference: “Children's literature seen by a 77-year-old child”

David Lozano Garbala

Invitado de Honor

He holds a law degree from the Universidad de Zaragoza, a Master's in Communication, and has studied Hispanic Philology. He has worked as a lawyer and professor. He is the creator and coordinator of the Criticón Award for youth literature, organized by the Zaragoza City Council, and he currently balances writing with his role as a screenwriter for various production companies. In 2024, he received the XLVI Premio Gran Angular for youth literature for his novel Intruso, a recognition he also achieved in 2006 with his work Donde surgen las sombras.Additionally, in 2018, he was awarded the Edebé Prize for his novel Desconocidos, the Catalan edition of which also won the Menjallibres and Protagonista Jove awards in 2019, as well as the Frei Martín Sarmiento award in Galician. He was a finalist for the Edebé Prize for children's literature with his novel El ladrón de minutos, and he is the author of the gothic fantasy trilogy La puerta oscura.He has published novels in eleven countries (Spain, Germany, Poland, Italy, Hungary, Mexico, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Colombia, and Turkey). Specializing in the suspense genre for young readers, his most well-known titles include the novels Valkiria, Hyde, Cielo Rojo, and HerejíaLa cena más rica del mundo, La estrella invisible, El mago sin nombre y La domadora de bichosEl fantasmatrón, Las Olimpiadas Lentas and El carnaval de los sosos).

Other activities involving the participant:

Fresh blood: the crime novel for young people

Almudena Hernández de la Torre

Invitado de Honor

(Madrid, 1980). With a degree in Art History from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, she has been a member of the Spanish Museum's Curators State Service since 2007. She has spent nearly twenty years working in cultural management in different institutions, including the International Contemporary Art Fair ARCO, the Sorolla Museum in Madrid and the Subdirectorate General of Fine Arts of the Community of Madrid, where she worked as head of temporary exhibitions in the galleries and exhibition spaces belonging to this region.

She is currently Deputy Assistant Director of the General Subdirectorate of Books and Reading Promotion of the General Directorate of Books and Reading Promotion of the Ministry of Culture. This unit manages the promotion of Spanish literature abroad by supporting the translation of literary works written in all the languages of the State and the participation in national and international book fairs.