Winners of IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award Announced
2010 Marks Twentieth Anniversary

March 23, Bologna, Italy....The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) today announced the winners of the 2010 IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Awards. This is the 20th Anniversary of the award given by IBBY and the Asahi Shimbun newspaper company for international projects run by groups or institutions judged to be making a lasting contribution to reading for young people. The Award is given every other year to two organizations. The 2010 winners are The Osu Children's Library Fund, Ghana, http://www.osuchildrenslibraryfund.ca, and Convenio de Cooperación al Plan de Lectura, Medellín, Colombia, http://bit.ly/9kSlvg.      Convenio de Cooperación al Plan de Lectura is a non-profit organization that encourages reading and literary creation by means of awareness, training and research programs, including workshops, storytelling and sessions with authors and illustrators.       Members of the 2010 jury are Jury President Hannelore Daubert (Germany), Anastasia Arkhipova (Russia), Nikki Gamble (Great Britain), Jehan Helou (Palestine), AhmadRedza Khairuddin (Malaysia) and James Tumusiime (Uganda).

    MADRID, 9 march – Spanish writer Jordi Sierra i Fabra won the El Barco de Vapor Children’s Literature Prize, which is awarded by publishing house SM, for “Historia de un segundo.”
    Sierra i Fabra, who was born in Barcelona in 1947 and is one of the most popular children’s authors in Spain, said he would donate the cash prize of 50,000 euros ($68,242) to his foundation, which works with disadvantaged children in Colombia and Spain.
    This was the 32nd edition of the prizes, which are awarded by Fundacion SM and considered the top awards for children’s authors in Spain.
    Sierra i Fabra’s “Historia de un segundo” beat out 250 other books for the El Barco de Vapor prize, with the jury calling it a work that “knows how to tell the universal romantic stories with tenderness, subtlety and ingenuity.”


BIOGRAPHY      
 
1947
- Born in Barcelona, July 26th
1955
- Serious accident. First literary incursions.
1959
- First long full-length novel, 500 pages. Firm avocation for as a writer.
1964
-Graduates from High School. Goes to technical school at night and works during the day for a construction company.
1968
- First professional attempt in the musical field. Founder of and collaborator in El Gran Musical radio programme (Cadena SER, Madrid). Additional collaboration with Radio Barcelona.
- Writes and collaborates on Articles and collaborations for Barcelona press and Madrid Nuevo Diario.
1969
- Correspondent for El Gran Musical in Barcelona.
1970
- Quits job and studies to dedicate himself completely to being music critic. Manages the weekly magazine Disco Expres.
- Starts travelling all overaround the world with the top musicians.
1972
- First book published "1962-72 Historia de la Música Pop" (1962-72 Pop Music History), the first work in its genre published in Spain and a best-seller.
- Works as Editing Adviser, collaborating, writing and founding a range of music magazines, (Top Magazine, Extra, etc.).
1973
- Founder of and writer for Popular 1, monthly rock magazine, and pioneer of style.
1974
- Becomes Popular 1 magazine Executive Manager.
- Ciudad de Murcia Literary Prize finalist.
- Hosts Radio program on Radio Peninsular of Barcelona, "Weekly information of the Pop Music", which airs for 4 years.
1975
- Villa de Bilbao novel literary prize.
1976
- Resigns as a Popular 1 Executive Manager to dedicate his time completely to literature and travel.
- Beginning of the music book collection anthology (biographies and history) "Música de Nuestro Tiempo" ("Music of our time"). Writes and publishes 24 books in the following years.
1977
- Co-founder of Super-Pop magazine, dedicated to youth music. Number 1 in Spain in its category after only a few months in print.
1978
- Planeta Novel Prize Finalist.
- Resigns as manager of Disco Express after 9 years.
1979
- Ateneo de Sevilla Novel Prize
1981
- Youth literature Gran Angular Prize.
- Begins publishing of "Historia de la Música Rock" ("Rock Music History") in 100 installments (6 volumes) over 2 years.
1982
- First lecture circuits around Spain in schools and high schools, prometed by boom in children´s and youth literature. Continues activities in schools to this day, giving with more than 100 lectures annually.
1983
- Wins Gran Angular Youth Literature Prize for the 2nd time.
1985
- Birth of detective store character Daniel Ross.
1987
- Authors radio serial "Ya es de oro" ("It´s already gold") radio serial for Cadena SER.
1988
- Births of literary characters Zuk-1 and Sam Numit.
- "El joven Lennon" ("The young Lennon") stays on the young adult fiction best-sellers list for 11 straight months.
- First books translated into Italian, German, French, Greek, Bulgarian, Portuguese, Eslovenian, Dutch, English, Japanese, etc , since then until now.
1989
- Birth of Victor, another literary character.
- First Daniel Ross film in on TV, "La sombra del delator" (airs March 1994 with Mario Gas and Manuel Aleixandre in the main characters).
1990
- Vaixell de Vapor Children´s Literature Prize.
- Timun Mas publishing house begins publishing "Sam Numit". Total of 6 books until in 2 years.
- Designs of a rock music trivia game.
1991
- Wins Gran Angular Prize of youth literature for the third 3rd time in 10 years.
1992
- Wins CCEI price to for the best children´s book during of 1991.
- "Diccionario de los Beatles", first book in the world published with this concept and under this title.
1993
- Publishes of the encyclopedia "Los grandes del Rock de la A a la Z" ("The Rock greats ones from A to Z") in Italy, titled "Los mitos del rock en vivo" ("Living Rock Legends"), 100 installments, 5 volumes.
- Wins Columna Prize for youth literature.
1994
- Wins Edebé prize of children´s literature.
- Publishes rock encyclopedia "Los grandes del Rock de la A a la Z" in Spain, (100 intallments, 5 volumes). Dense work with 2000 principle biographies and more than 1000 secondary ones.
- Ediciones SM in Spain publishes "Los libros de Víctor y Compañía" ("Victor and company books") collection of a total of 15 titles.
1995
- Publishes of "El diario de los Beatles" ("The Beatles diary"), first universal work in of its genre.
- Along with 10 other authors from the 5 continents, selected by the IBBY in 1996 to be part of the first book edited by this organization and published in different languages.
1996
- German Ministry of Culture invites him to give lectures in around the country.
- Marcha Films buys TV rights to novel "El regreso de Johnny Pickup" ("Johnny Pickup is back").
- Imanol Uribe, film director, buys TV rights to novel "El tiempo del olvido" ("The time of forget").
- Birth of literary character "Zack Galaxy", illustrated by the comic artist Alfonso Azpiri.
- Wins Joaquim Ruyra prize of young literature.
1997
- "El joven Lennon" ("The young Lennon") receives the "Libro de Oro" ("Gold Book") for its Ediciones SM sales.
- Writes script for TV series "Bajo el signo de..." ("Under the sign of...").
- Invited by the National Council for Culture and Arts of Mexico, Delivers lectures and seminars around Mexico.
- 25th anniversary of the publication of the first book. Homage in Barcelona.
1998
- Theater version of the book "El niño que vivía en las Estrellas" ("The boy that lived in the stars") premiers in Madrid.
- Wins Columna Jove Prize of juvenile literature for 2nd time.
- Wins Vaixell de Vapor prize of infantil children´s literature for 2nd time.
1999
- Wins CCEI prize for 2nd time, for best book of 1998.
- Wins A la Orilla del Viento prize, awarded by Fondo de Cultura Económica, Mexico.
- Sings (for the first time on stage) "Te recuerdo Amanda" ("I remember you Amanda") with fellow artists at the memorial festival for Victor Jara, held in Barcelona.
- Inauguration of official Web site, .
2000
- Film "El dia del Lleó" ("The day of the Lion") premiers on Televisión of Catalunya (Catalán Television), as part of the series "Under the sign of...", with spanish singer Llorenç SantamarÌa as a protagonist, that includes the song of the same title written by the actor and Jordi Sierra i Fabra.
- Conducts first videoconference celebrated in Spain between the author and shools with in Zaragoza and Teruel.
- The Cámara del Libro (Chile) invites him to conference and present his work.
- “...en un lugar llamado Tierra” (“... in a place named Earth”) receives the “Libro de oro” (“Gold Book”) for his sells in Ediciones S.M.
- The 27th Congress of IBBY, holden in Colombia, invites him to pronounce a conference about the compromise in the children’s and youth literature. Talks and conferences.
- First Spanish author to put a book in Internet: “El misterio del Goya robado” (“The mistery of the stolen Goya”) an interactive novel which also serve as a competition for young readers all over the world in Spanish language.
- Wins the Voces Eléctricas de Narrativa Musical prize.
- “Mi País”, the childhood suplement of Spanish newspaper “El PaÌs”, starts to publish the comic strip of the character “Jorge... y el resto del mundo” (“George... and the rest of the world”) signed by Sierra i Fabra, with illustrations of Quico Rovira.
- “Noche de viernes” (“Friday night”) receives the “Libro de Platino” (“Platin Book”) for its Alfaguara sales.
- The collection of Record-Books “Un país de música” (“A country of music”), released by the Spanish newspaper “El País”, sells a million and a half copies.
2001
- Births of literary characters of the “Patrulla Galáctica 752” (“Galactic Patrol 752”) edited by Bruño.
- First original and inedited books published directly in Latinoamerican editorials (Colombia, Chile, Mexico and Ecuador). Trips to Bogotá·, Colombia, to offer conferences and lessons in the country. First author non Latinoamerican who´s invited to the Juego Literario de Medellín, in Colombia (Medellin literary game).
- The interactive novel “El misterio del Goya Robado” (“The mistery of the stolen Goya”) is read by a million and a half people (l,509,932) all over the world in Internet during six months. Second work in the net, “El misterio del sello millonario” (“The mistery of the millionaire stamp”).
- “La fábrica de nubes” (“The factory of clouds”) gets the Placa de Plata (Silver Plate) of Ediciones S. M.
- For third time, CCEI prize to the best book of the year, in 2000.
- Monographic documentary of the Televisión Educativa Iberoamericana within the program “Barataria”.
- “Camps de maduixes”, Catalan version of “Campos de fresas” (“Strawberry fields”) gets the Placa de Plata (Silver Plate) of Editorial Cruilla.
2002
- Wins the Premio Abril, published in the four Spanish official languages (Spanish, Catalan, Vasque and Galician) and two dialects (Aragonés and Bable).
- “Campos de fresas” (“Strawberry fields”) gets the “Libro de Oro” due to its sells in Ediciones S. M.
- Theatrical version of “Nunca seremos estrellas del rock” (“We will never be rock stars”) is premiered in Bayonne, France.
- Trilogy “El tiempo del exilio” (“The time of exile”) is published all over the world.
- According to the Spanish Ministerio de Educación, Cultura y Deporte, Sierra i Fabra occupy the 8th place among the most read authors in Spanish schools. The list is as follows:
1) Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer
2) Miguel Delibes
3) Benito Pérez Galdós
4) Federico García Lorca
5) Pío Baroja
6) Eduardo Mendoza
7) Gabriel GarcÌa Márquez
8) Jordi Sierra i Fabra
9) Camilo José Cela
10) Leopoldo Alas Clarín
Sierra i Fabra is the only one in the list, among the contemporary authors, whose career is totally focused on children´s and youth literature.
2003
- “Los años oscuros” (“The dark years”), first part of the trilogy “El tiempo del exilio” (“The time of exile”), chosen among the best books of 2002 by the readers of Catalan newspaper “La Vanguardia”.
- Opening conference of the first Encuentro Nacional de Animación a la Lectura (national meeting to encourage to read), held by the Spanish Ministerio de Cultura.
- Bruño editorial starts “La Biblioteca de Jordi Sierra i Fabra”, a collection of inedited novels with a visual and cinematographic orientation.
- “Campos de fresas” (“Strawberry fields”) become a television movie producted by Fausto Producciones (La Fura dels Baus).
- Wins the Liburu Gaztea prize to the best book of 2002 in Euzkadi by “Dormido sobre los espejos” (“Sleeping on the mirrors”).
- Wins the Ramón Muntaner prize with a story about adolescent lesbianism, "A l´altra banda del mirall" (In the other side of the mirror)
2004
- Theatrical version of “Querido hijo: estás despedido” is premiered in Santander.
- “La biblioteca dels llibres buits”, Catalan version of “La biblioteca de los libros vacÌos” gets the Placa de Plata (Silver Plate) of Editorial Cruilla.
- First International Fair of the Book in Tegucigalpa, holden in Honduras, invites him to inauguration. Talks and conferences.
- Wins the Nèstor Luján prize with "La pell de la revolta" (The skin of the revolution).
- Fair of the Book in Quito, Ecuador. Talks and conferences.
- International Fair in Guadalajara, México. Talks and conferences.
- According to the Net of Librarys of Spain, Sierra i Fabra is the most read authors for the young peoples in Spanish Librarys.
- The Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation is born in Barcelona, Spain
- The Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation for Latin America is born in Medellín, Colombia.
- More 7 millions books sale en Spain.
2005
- The Jordi Sierra i Fabra International Prize for childrens and young people, is open.
- Film "Campos de fresas" ("Strawberry fields") is open in TV´s of Spain.
- SM editorial starts "Los Libros de Jordi Sierra i Fabra", a collection books of the author.
- Fair of Bolonia, Italia, invites him to pronounce a conference about the compromise in the children’s and youth literature.
- Wins the Protagonista Jove prize to the best book of 2004 in Catalonia by “A l´altra banda del mirall" (In the other side of the mirror).
- First "Seminario de creación literaria" in Antioquia University, Medellín, Colombia. Presentation of The Foundation Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Latin America in Fair of Bogotá.
- Wins the International prize Julio C. Coba (Ecuador) by "La palabra más hermosa" (The most beautiful word).
- “Camps de maduixes”, Catalan version of “Campos de fresas” (“Strawberry fields”) gets the Placa de Oro (Gold Plate) of Editorial Cruilla.
- Fair of the Book in Saarbrucken, Germany. Talks and conferences.
- Nominated for Andersen Award in Spain.
- Born The Official "Foro de Jordi Sierra i Fabra": www.elforo.de/foroficialjsif
- Wins The Fiter i Rossell prize (Andorra) by "Sinaia".
2006
- Wins Edebe pirize of young's literature for "Llamando a las puertas del cielo" (Knocking on heaven's door).
- International Prize Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Young People is winner for a 16 years old student named Arturo Padilla de Juan.
- Brasil Tour. In April Second Seminar on Literature Creation at Medellín, Colombia, and in Octiber and November the Third and Fourth Seminars in Medellín and Barranquila respectively.
- The method for young writers "La página escrita" is published thanks to Jordi Sierra i Fabra and SM. It makes book number 300 to be published.
- A guest by the Intitut Ramón llull to Guadalajara Fair in México as a representative for Catalonian culture.
- "The soldier and the baby" (El soldado y la niña) is opening in teather, Olot (Spain).
- A lecture at the First Congress about Literature and Society, Valencia, Spain.
2007
- "La página escrita" (The written page) is presented in Spain. Seminaries at several spanish towns.
- International Prize Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Young People is winner for a 15 years old student named Jara Santamaría.
- Several lectures at different towns in Catalonia on the commintment in literature for yooung readers, sponsored by Obra Social La Caixa.
- The Foundation Taller de Letras Jordi Sierra i Fabra from medellín, Colombia, organizes Medellín Literary Games with attendance, throught the year, of several spanish authors and with the collaboration of the Ministry of Culture in Spain as well as Medellín Town Council.
- He was invited to the Language Congres in Medellín, Colombia.
- A project completed by Foundation Jordi Sierra i Fabra in Barcelona, Spain, and The Foundation Taller de Letras Jordi Sierra i Fabra in medellín, Colombia, is selected among the best projects in 2006-2007 by IBBY and is candidate to the Asahi Qward 2008.
- National Award to Children and Youngster's Literature for "Kafka y la muñeca viajera" (Kafka and the Travelling Doll).
- Presentation of the two Foundations at Guadalajara fair, México. Seminario "La página escrita" at the same fair.
- Youngster's Narrative Award Bancaixa Ciutat d'Alzira with "Els focs de la memoria" (Memory Fires).
- Over 8 millions copies sold in Spain.
2008
- International Prize Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Young People is winner for a 17 years old student named África Vázquez.
- Publishing of the CD "Retrato de Soledad, ópera monólogo en un acto" (A portrait of Loneliness, Monologue Opera in One Act), written for Jordi Sierra i Fabra with music by Pedro Pardo and the voice of Marta Fiol. World premiere in Lléida.
- First night of the theater version of "Nunca seremos estrellas del rock" (We will Never Be Rock Stars), a book that comprises five novels by Jordi.
- Opening of the web page www.sierraifabra.com at with videos and interviews.
- Simposium in New York about children and youngsters' literature, invited by Intituto Cervantes. Opening of fair of Praga. Opening speech at the Fair of León, Spain. Special guest at FILIJ in México. Invited by Instituto Cervantes in Lyon, France.
- 2007 annual report of Foundation Taller de Letras Jordi Sierra i Fabra in Medellín, Colombia, including 3.090 activities (seminaries, workshops, etc.) with the participation of 108.860 young people.
- Foundation Jordi Sierra i Fabra is one of the finalists for the 2008 Asahi Award to Cooperation.
- Award to Honorary Librarian, granted by l'Associció de Bibliotecaris (Librarian's Association) in Valencia, Spain.
- Director and writer collection Nadhari Joven for Intermón Oxfam ONG.
2009
- Over 9 million copies sold in Spain.
- Guest at The Hay Festival in Cartagena de Indias. Jury member for the Children's Tale National Contest in Colombia.
- The Foundation Jordi Sierra i Fabra starts up The Epi (Writers With Children) Project to distribute books to children in hospitals of the Day of the Book (23rd. April) including personal apearances.
- Invited by Fundación Caballero Bonald and the Unbiversity of Cádiz in Jerez to the opening of the Fifth Permanent Seminary about youngster's Literature, to talk about commintment in literature for young readers.
- Second time Spanish Candidate for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2010.
- For the second time, a project by Fundació Jordi Sierra i Fabra is candidate to the Asahi Award to Cooperation 2010.
- Presenting the book "Juego, set y partido" (Game, set and match) with the number 1 ATP Tour Rafa Nadal.
- International Prize Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Young People is winner for a 15 years old student named Dunia Esteban.
- Inaugurated The First Jordi Sierra i Fabra Library en Torre del Mar Institute, Málaga.
- Award Protagonista Jove (for second time), best book in Catalonian year 2008, to "Kafka i la nina que se´n va anar de viatge".
- First night of the theater version of "El niño que se cayó en un agujero".
2010
- Birth of literary character "Berta Mir, detective" (Siruela Editions)
- The Foundation Jordi Sierra i Fabra received the IBBY-Asahi Reading Promotion Award 2010 for a work between The Jordi Sierra i Fabra Literature Workshop Foundation in Medellín, Colombia, and the Town Hall of the city.
- Guest at CILELIJ 2010, Congreso Iberoamericano de Literatura Infantil y Juvenil, Santiago de Chile.
- First night of the theater versión of "Kafka y la muñeca viajera", in Lara Theater, Madrid.
- V International Prize Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Young People is winner for a 16 years old student named Lorena Moreno.
- Guest at The Hay Festival in Cartagena de Indias. Presenting the book "La nueva tierra" (The New Earth).
- Award El Barco de Vapor for "Historia de un segundo" (History of a second).
- First night of the theater versión of "Kafka y la muñeca viajera", in Lima, Perú.
- Books in audio system.
- Korea and China edited masive titles of Jordi's biblography.
2011
- VI International Prize Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Young People is winner for a 15 years old student named Arlet Hinojosa.
- "History of a second" ("Historia de un segundo"), Honored List Ibby 2012.
- The Foundation Jordi Sierra i Fabra opening The School for Writers and Illustraters in Medellín, Colombia. Jordi makes the first week for a students.
- Member of Cervantes Institute. First author of young people literature in the selected institution.
- Award Prize Ciudad de Torrevieja de Novela to "Sombras en el tiempo".
- First night of the theater versión of "La fabulosa llegenda del rei Artús", in Torelló, Barcelona.
- Award Prize Barcanova in Catalonian language to "L'estrany".
- Spanish Tour the companys Tanttaka Teatroa, Emedous and Albena Teatre (Asturias, Euskadi, Galicia y Valencia) with new version of "Kafka y la muñeca viajera".
2012
- Over 10 million copies sold in Spain.
- VII International Prize Jordi Sierra i Fabra for Young People is winner for a 17 years old student named Alba Quintas.

    MADRID – Spanish writer Jordi Sierra i Fabra won the El Barco de Vapor Children’s Literature Prize, which is awarded by publishing house SM, for “Historia de un segundo.”
    Sierra i Fabra, who was born in Barcelona in 1947 and is one of the most popular children’s authors in Spain, said he would donate the cash prize of 50,000 euros ($68,242) to his foundation, which works with disadvantaged children in Colombia and Spain.
    This was the 32nd edition of the prizes, which are awarded by Fundacion SM and considered the top awards for children’s authors in Spain.
    Sierra i Fabra’s “Historia de un segundo” beat out 250 other books for the El Barco de Vapor prize, with the jury calling it a work that “knows how to tell the universal romantic stories with tenderness, subtlety and ingenuity.”


LITERARY PRIZES         


Year of award      Prize Name
 

1975 - Prize Villa de Bilbao to "La revolución del 32 de Triciembre" (The revolution of Tricember 32”

1979 - Prize Ateneo de Sevilla to "En Canarias se ha puesto el sol" (The sun has set in the Canary Islands)

1981 - Prize Gran Angular 1980 to "El cazador" (The Hunter)

1983 - Prize Gran Angular 1982 to "...en un lugar llamado Tierra" (In a place called Earth)

1990 - Prize Vaixell de Vapor to "Un llibre monstruos" (A monster book)

1991 - Prize Gran Angular 1990 to "El último set" (The last set)

1992 - Prize of the CCEI to "El último set" (The last set)

1993 - Prize Columna Jove to "El temps de l’oblit" (The time of forget)

1994 - Prize Edebé of children's literature to "Aydin"

1996 - Prize Joaquim Ruyra to "Concert en Sol Major" (Concert in sol major sol)

1998 - Prize Columna Jove to "L'or dels déus" (The gold of the gods)

1998 - Prize Vaixell de Vapor to "Les històries perdudes" (The lost stories)

1999 - Prize of the CCEI to "Donde esté mi corazón". (Wherever my heart is)

1999 - Prize A La Orilla Del Viento (México) to "Historias de Medio Mundo" (Stories of half a world).

2000 - Prize Voces Eléctricas de Narrativa Musical to "Mis salvajes rockeros" (My wild rockers).

2001 - Prize of the CCEI to "El fabuloso Mundo de las Letras" (The wonderful world of letters).

2002 - Prize Abril to "En un lugar llamado guerra" (In a place called war).

2003 - Prize Liburu Gaztea to "Dormido sobre los espejos" (Sleeping on the mirrors).

2003 - Prize Ramón Muntaner to "A l'altra banda del mirall" (On the other side of the mirror).

2004 - Prize Nèstor Luján de Novela Històrica to “La pell de la revolta” (The memory skin).

2005 - Prize Protagonista Jove to “A l’altra banda del mirall” (On the other side of the mirror).

2005 - International Children Literature Prize Julio C. Coba (Ecuador) to “La palabra más hermosa” (The most beautiful word).

2005 -Prize Fiter i Rossell (Andorra) to "Sinaia".

2006 -Prize Edebé of young's literature to "Llamando a las puertas del cielo" (Knocking on heaven´s door).

2007 -Prize National, Ministery of Culture, Spain, to "Kafka y la muñeca viajera" (Kafka and the traveller puppet).

2007-Prize Bancaixa Ciutat d´Alzira of Young's people for "Els focs de la memòria" (The fires of the memory).

2009-Prize Protagonista Jove to "Kafka i la nina que se´n va anar de viatge".

2010-Prize El Barco de Vapor, to "Historia de un segundo" (History of a second).

2011-Prize Ciudad de Torrevieja de Novela to "Sombras en el tiempo".

2011-Prize Barcanova to "L'estrany".


SPECIAL MENTIONS

1990 - Selection "White ravens" by the Internationale Jugendbibliothek in Munich of "El joven Lennon" (The young Lennon).

1999 -  Selection "White ravens" by the Internationale Jugendbibliothek in Munich of "Un hombre con un tenedor en una tierra de sopas" (A man with a fork in soupland).

2000 - Selection "White ravens" by the Internationale Jugendbibliothek in Munich of "Les històries perdudes" (The lost tales)

2005 - Spanish candidate for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2006.

2007 - Selection "White ravens" by the Internationale Jugendbibliothek in Munich of "Llamando a las puertas del cielo" (Knocking on heaven´s door).

2007- The Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation candidate of Asahi Prize for International Cooperation and finalist in convocatory for 2008 (IBBY).

2009- For second time, spanish candidate for the Hans Christian Andersen Award 2010.

2009- The Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation candidate of Asahi Prize for International Cooperation in convocatory for 2010 (IBBY).

2010- The Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation winner the IBBY-Asahi Prize for Reading Promotion, for a work in Medellín, Colombia, with colaboration between The Jordi Sierra i Fabra  Literature Workshop Foundation and the Town Hall of the city.

2011- Honorary List IBBY 2012 for "History of a second" (Historia de un segundo"),


Other prizes and awards


1974 - Finalist (2nd position) Ciudad de Murcia to "El mundo de las ratas doradas" (The world of the golden rats).

1978 - Finalist (4th position ) Planeta Award.

1982 - Honorary List CCEI to "El cazador" (The Hunter).

1984 - Honorary List CCEI to "...en un lugar llamado Tierra" (In a place called Earth)

1985 - Finalist (2nd position) Premio Gran Angular 1984 to "El último verano Miwok" (The last Miwok summer).

1986 - Finalist (3rd position) Premio Gran Angular 1985 to "El joven Lennon" (The young Lennon).

1987 - Honorary List CCEI to "Regreso a un lugar llamado Tierra" (Return to a place called Earth).

1988 - Honorary List CCEI to "El ˙ltimo verano Miwok"  (The last Miwok summer) and to "El testamento de un lugar llamado Tierra" (The testament of a place called Earth).

1989 - Finalist (2nd position ) Premio Vaixell de Vapor to "Temps de gebre" (Frosting time).

1991 - Nominated for the National Prize of Literature for Young People with "La balada de Siglo XXI" (The balland of the XXI century).

1992 - Honorary List CCEI to "La fábrica de nubes" (The cloud factory) (apart from winning with "El último set" (The last set).

1993 - Finalist (2nd position) Premio Barco de Vapor 1992 to "Las alas del sol" (The wings of the Sun).     
Honorary List CCEI to "El hombre que perdió su imagen" (The man who lost his image.
Selection for "Los mejores libros del año" (The Best Books of the Year) by Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez with "Banda sonora" (Sound track).

1994 - Selection for "Los mejores libros del año" (The Best Books of the Year) by Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez  with "Malas tierras" (Bad lands).
Honorary List in the magazine CLIJ with "Noche de viernes" (Friday night).

1995 - Honorary List CCEI with "Las alas del sol" (The wings of the Sun), "Los tigres del valle" (The valley tigers) and "Cuando los genios andan sueltos" (When geniuses wander freely).
Finalist (2nd position) Espasa Humor Prize to "El regreso de Johnny Pickup" (The return of Johnny Pickup”.
Nominated for the National Prize of Youngsters Literature for "Las alas del sol" (The wings of the sun).

1996 - Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: "L'estel del matí" (The morning star).

1997 - "Libro de Oro" (Golden Book) by Ediciones SM for the sales of "El joven Lennon" (The young Lennon).
Honorary List CCEI with "El niño que vivÌa en las estrellas" (The boy who lived in the stars).
Finalist (2nd position) Gran Angular Prize in Catalonian to "La memòria dels éssers perduts" (The memory of the lost beings).

1998 -  Honorary List CCEI with "Retrato de un adolescente manchado" (Portrait of a polluted teenager).
Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: "Camps de maduixes" (Strawberry fields).

1999 - Honorary List CCEI with "Un hombre con un tenedor en una tierra de sopas" (apart from winning with "Donde esté mi corazón" (Wherever my heart is).
Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: "Camps de maduixes" (Strawberry fields).

2000 -  “Libro de Oro" (Golden Book) by Ediciones SM for the sales of “...en un lugar llamado Tierra" (In a place called Earth).
Honorary List CCEI with "Las chicas de alambre" (The wire girls).
Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: "Camps de maduixes" (Strawberry fields).
"Libro de Platino" (Platinum Book) by Alfaguara for the sales of "Noche de viernes" (Friday night).

2001 -  "Placa de Plata"(Silver Plate) by Ediciones SM for the sales of "La fábrica de nubes" (The cloud factory).
Finalist to the International Price Julio C. Coba, Ecuador with "La biblioteca de los libros vacÌos" (The library of the empty books).
Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: "Camps de maduixes" (Strawberry fields).
Placa de plata (Silver Plate) by Editorial CruÏlla for “Camps de maduixes” (Strawberry fields).

2002 -  “Libro de Oro" (Golden Book) by Ediciones SM for the sales of "Campos de fresas" (Strawberry fields).

2003 -  Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: “Camps de maduixesî (Strawberry fields).

2004 -  Honorary List in CLIJ magazine with "Mi primer libro de ópera" (My first opera book).
Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: “Camps de maduixesî (Strawberry fields).
“Placa de plata” (Silver Plate) by Editorial CruÏlla for "La biblioteca dels llibres buits" (The library of the empty books).
Honorary List CCEI with "Sin tiempo para soñar"

2005 -  Honorary list of the best children and youngsters books of the year by Banco del Libro de Caracas, Venezuela (Venezuelan section of the IBBY) with “La piel de la memoria” (The memory skin).
Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: “Camps de maduixes” (Strawberry fields).
“Placa de oro” (Golden Plate) by Editorial Cruïlla for “Camps de maduixes” (Strawberry fields).
Honorary List CCEI with "Los olvidados".

2006 - Honorary list in CLIJ Magazine with "Material sensible (Cuentos crueles)".
Selection "3 best mistery books of the year" in catalonian for Brigada 21 for "Assassinat a El Club" (Murder in The Club).
Prize Lector 2006, from the Junta de Castilla y León, Biblobús Escolar y el IES de Alcañices, Zamora for "Campos de fresas" (Strawbery fields).
Best selling book of the year, collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: “Camps de maduixes” (Strawberry fields).

2007 - Honorary list in CLIJ Magazine with "Kafka y la muñeca viajera" (Kafka and the puppet traveler) and "Llamando a las puertas del cielo" (Knocking on heaven's door).
Best selling book of the year (ten years consecutives), collection Alerta Roja published by Cruïlla: “Camps de maduixes” (Strawberry fields).
Honorary List CCEI with "Mendigo en la playa de oro" (Beggar in the beach of gold) and "El rastro del anillo Magno" (The trace of Magno´s ring).
Honorary list in Faristol Magazine, best books curse 2006-07 for "Gauditronix" and "La gran aventura" (The great adventure).

2008 - Prize "Bibliotecari d´Honor".
Honorary list in CLIJ Magazine with "Operas contadas para niños".
Second best book of the year, category Best Young Adult Fiction by "La gran aventura", in the 10Th. Annual International Latino Book Awards Winners.
Honorary list CCEI with "La gran aventura".

2009 - Selection best books in the year 2008, Faristol Magazine, with "Kafka i la nina que se'n va anar de viatge" and "Els focs de la memòria".
Honorary list in CLIJ Magazine with "Las hijas de las tormentas, Vol.1: El enigma maya" and "La fabulosa leyenda del Rey Arturo".

2010 - Honorary list in CLIJ Magazine with "La isla del poeta".
UK New Spanish Books 2010 by  "El funeral celeste".
Selection best books in the year 2009, Faristol Magazine, with "Poe" and "Anatomia d'un 'incident aïllat".

2011. "Kafla y la muñeca viajera" is a Top10 best books for young people in first decade of XXI Century, awared in El País newspaper.

PUBLISHED WORKS AND CURRENT EDITIONS UP TO JANUARY 2012

Literature for young readers

- El cazador (The hunter) - SM 1981 / MN (Chile) 2010
- ...en un lugar llamado Tierra (In a place called Earth) (First part of the trilogy "El ciclo de las Tierras"/ The Cicle of the Lands) - SM 1983/CruÏlla 1990
- Sencillamente amor (Simply love) - Ed. Martinez Roca 1983
- Regreso a un lugar llamado Tierra (Return to a place called Earth) (Second part of the trilogy "El ciclo de las Tierras"/The Cicle of the Lands) - SM 1986
- El testamento de un lugar llamado Tierra (The testament of a place called Earth) (Third part of the trilogy "El ciclo de las Tierras" / The Cicle of the Lands) - SM 1987
- El último verano Miwok (The last Miwok summer) - SM 1987
- El joven Lennon (The young Lennon) - SM 1988/Cruïlla 1992
- Cuando la lógica falla, el Sistema llama a... Zuk-1 (When logic fails, the system calls Zuk-1) - Pirene 1989/Celeste 1993
- Shakanjoisha - SM 1989
- La balada de Siglo XXI (The ballad of the XXI century) - SM 1989
- La guitarra de John Lennon (John Lennon's guitar) - Timun Mas 1990
- En busca de Jim Morrison (Searching for Jim Morrison) - Timun Mas 1990
- Kaopi - Alfaguara 1990/Grup Promotor
- El gran festival de rock (The great rock festival) - Timun Mas 1990
- Alma de Blues (Son of blues) - Timun Mas 1990
- El último set (Tie break) - SM 1991
- Otra canción en el paraiso (Another song in paradise) - Timun Mas 1991
- Los sonidos del silencio (The sounds of silence) - Timun Mas 1991
- Banda Sonora (Sound track) - Siruela 1993/2006/Columna 1994
- Una pizza para A.F.Mac, detective privado (A pizza for A.F. Mac, private investigator) - Grijalbo Junior 1993
- Las fans (The fans) - Espasa Calpe 1993
- Noche de viernes (Friday night) - Alfaguara 1993
- El temps de l’oblit (The time of forget) - Columna 1993/Alba 1995
- Sólo para Zuk-1 (Only for Zuk-1) - Celeste / Pirene 1994
- Malas Tierras (Bad lands) - SM/CruÏlla 1994
- El asesino del Sgt.Pepper’s (The murder of Sargent Pepper) - Edebé 1994
- Nunca seremos estrellas del rock (We will never be rock stars) - Alfaguara/Columna 1995
- Seis historias en torno a Mario (Six stories about Mario) - Espasa Calpe 1995 / Planeta Oxford 2005
- L’estel del matí (The morning star) - CruÏlla/SM 1996
- Noche de luna en el Estrecho (Moon night at the strait) - Grijalbo 1996
- Jugando en las sombras de la luz (Playing in the light shadows) - Edebé 1996
- Concert en Sol Major (Concert in sol major) - La Galera/Columna 1997
- Campos de fresas (Strawberry fields) - SM/CruÏlla 1997
- Retrato de un adolescente manchado  - Bruño 1997
- La voz interior (The voice inside) - SM 1997
- La puerta del Más Allá (The gate to beyond) - Espasa 1997
- Donde esté mi corazón (Wherever my heart is) - Edebé 1998
- La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Bronce 1998/Columna 2004
- Un hombre con un tenedor en una tierra de sopas (A Man with a Fork in Soupland)  - Bruño 1998
- La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memory of the lost beings) - SM/CruÏlla 1998
- Las voces del futuro (The future voices) - SM 1998
- Los elegidos (The Chosen Ones) - Edebé 1998
- Las chicas de alambre (The wire girls) - Alfaguara 1999/Grup Promotor 2005
- Víctor Jara (Reventando los silencios) / Víctor Jara (Busting the silences) - SM/CruÏlla     1999
- L'or dels déus (The gold of the gods) - Columna 1999/ Bronce 2000
- Rabia (Rage) - SM / CruÏlla 2000
- Dormido sobre los espejos (Sleeping on mirrors) - Editores Asociados/La Galera/ Elkar/ Galaxia 2000/1
- Las Furias (The furies) - Alfaguara / Grup Promotor 2001
- Donde el viento da la vuelta (Where the Wind Turns Round) - Edebé 2001
- Marte XXIII (Mars XXIII) / Les veus de Mart (The voices of Mars) - Grupo Ed. Norma (Colombia) 2001 / La Galera 2004
- 97 formas de decir "te quiero" (97 ways to say “I love you”)  - Bruño 2001 / Columna 2005
- Una (simple) historia de amor (A (simple) love story) - Espasa 2001
- El rostro de la multitud (The crowd face) - SM 2001
- Historias de Medio Mundo (Stories of half a world) - Fondo de Cult. Econ-mico (Mexico) 2001
- 27 Edad Maldita - Alfaguara 2002
- Casting - SM 2002
- El dolor invisible (The invisible pain) - Diagonal/Empuries 2002
- En un lugar llamado guerra (In a place called war) - Editores Asociados / La Galera/ Elkar/ Galaxia/ Peixe/ Xordica 2002
- La piel de la memoria (The memory skin) - Edelvives 2002/3
- Zonas interiores (Inner zones) - Destino 2002/Planeta Oxford 2004/Columna 2004
- Tiempo muerto (Time out) - Espasa 2002
- Buscant en Bob (Searching for Bob) - Barcanova 2003/Anaya 2005
- El mensajero del miedo (The fear messenger) - Bruño 2003
- Día de rodaje (Filming days) - Bruño 2003
- La canción de Mani Blay (Mani Blay’s song) - Bruño 2003
- Sin tiempo para soñar (No time to dream) - Bruño 2003
- A l´altra banda del mirall (On the other side of the mirror) - Empuries 2003/Destino 2005
- Frontera (Border) - SM 2003/CruÏlla 2004
- La guerra de mi hermano (My brother´s war) - SM 2004
- El funeral celeste - Bruño 2004
- El somriure del diable (The devil’s smile) - Bromera/Algar 2004
- Los olvidados (The Forgotten Ones) - Bruño 2004
- En una esquina del corazón (In a corner of the heart) - Bruño 2004
- Soledades de Ana (Ana's loneliness) - Bromera/Algar/Erein/Galaxia 2005/7
- La puerta del paraíso (Gate to paradise) - Edebé 2005
- El loco de la colina (The fool on the hill) - Edelvives 2005
- Fuera de juego (Off side) - SM/CruÏlla 2005
- Siete minutos para la revolución (Seven minutes for the revolution) - SM 2005/L&L (Colombia) 2011
- El secreto de las perlas (The secret of the pearls) - Panamericana (Colombia) 2005
- El joven Lennon (Edición 2005) (The young Lennon, Edtion 2005) - SM/Columna 2005
- Sin vuelta atrás (Without return) - SM 2005/Cruïlla 2006
- Kafka y la muñeca viajera (Kafka and the traveler puppet)  - Siruela 2006 / Elkar 2008 / Empuries 2008
- Llamando a las puertas del cielo (Knocking on heaven´s door) - Edebé 2006
- Mendigo en la playa de oro (Beggar on a beach of gold) - Pearson 2006
- Y le llamaron Colón - Edebé 2006
- Gauditronix - Edebé 2006
- El rastro del Anillo Magno - Edelvives 2006
- Los dientes del dragón - SM 2007
- Las fronteras del infierno (The frontiers of the hell) - SM 2007
- Radiografía de chica con tatuaje - La Galera 2007
- Los fuegos de la memoria (The fires of the memory) — Bromera/Algar 2008
- Lágrimas de sangre (Tears of blood) - Alfaguara 2008
- Las hijas de las tormentas. Vol.1: El enigma maya (Storm daughters Vol.1) - Edebé 2008
- Una dulce historia de mariposas y libélulas (A sweet story of butterflies and dragonflies) - Siruela 2008
- Los ojos del alma (Eyes of soul) - Pearson 2008
- Las hijas de las tormentas. Vol.2: La cruz del Nilo (Storm daughters Vol.2) - Edebé 2008
- Yo (I) - SM 2008 / Tandem 2010
- Nubes en el cielo (Clouds in the sky) - Intermón Oxfam 2008
- Trilogía de las Tierras - Siruela 2008
- L'emprenta del silenci - Columna 2009
- Las hijas de las tormentas. Vol.3: El quinto cristal (Storm daughters Vol.3) - Edebé 2009
- Las guerras de Diego (Wars of Diego) - Siruela 2009 / Grup 62 2010
- Anatomia de un "incidente aislado" - Cruïlla 2009/Bruño 2010
- Juego, set y partido (Game, set and match) - Destino 2009
- Película virgen (Cuentos perversos) - Intermón Oxfam 2009
- La isla del poeta (The poet island) - Siruela 2009
- Poe - Zorro Rojo 2009
- Només tu... (Only you...) - Columna 2009
- Sala de conflictos - Edelvives 2009
- La resta és silenci - Abacus 2009
- La modelo descalza - Siruela 2010/Galaxia 2011
- La nueva tierra (The new earth) - Alfaguara 2010
- Tester (Probador) - Edebé 2010
- El caso del falso accidente (Berta Mir 1) - Siruela 2010 / Grup 62 2011
- Más allá de los dos ríos (Kaopi) - Intermón 2010
- Un poco de abril, algo de mayo, todo septiembre - Viceversa 2011
- El caso del loro que hablaba demasiado - Siruela 2011 / Grup 62 2011
- Sueños rotos - Algar 2011
- Magno - Edebé 2011
- Myths and Legends of Shakankoisha - HakaBooks.com 2012
- Top Model (La puerta del Paraíso) (catalán y castellano) - HakaBooks.com
- El caso del chantajista pelirrojo - Siruela/Grup 62 2012

Children books

- ¡Sorpresas! (Surprises!) - SM 1982/1989
- Nuevas Sorpresas (New Surprises!) - SM 1985
- ¡¡¡Lambertooo!!! ( Lambeeeert!!! ) - Anaya 1988
- La asombrosa expedición (The amazing expedition) - Júcar 1988
- Peluconas - SM 1988
- Raskundanpelkuf - Ed. B 1988
- El largo camino (The long road) - Everest 1989
- La nave fantástica (The fantastic craft) - Anaya 1989
- Benezén el pescador (Benezen the fisherman) - SM 1989
- Historias asombrosas (Amazing stories) - Edelvives 1989
- Mirpeace - Plaza y Janes 1989
- Anisha - Júcar 1989
- La leyenda de Patrácoras (The legend of Patracoras) - Susaeta 1989
- Temps de gebre (Frosting time)- Cruïlla 1990 / SM 2006
- Un llibre monstruós (A monster book) - Cruïlla 1990
- El gran dragón (The great dragon) - Anaya 1990
- El planeta blanc (The white planet) - Edelvives 1990
- Relatos galácticos (Galactic tales) - Anaya 1990
- La fábrica de nubes (The cloud factory) - SM 1991/Cruïlla 1994
- El hombre que perdió su imagen (The man who lost his image) - Anaya 1992 / Barcanova 2004
- El espejo del futuro (The mirror of the future) - Edebé 1992
- Los tigres del valle (The valley tigers) - Edebé 1994
- Aydin - Edebé 1994
- Noticias frescas (Víctor 1) (Last minute news (Victor 1)) - SM 1994 / Columna 1996
- Los mayores están locos, locos, locos (VÍctor 2) (The grown-ups have gone crazy, crazy, crazy (Victor 2)) - SM 1994 / Columna 1998
- El rockero (VÍctor 3) (The rock star (Victor 3)) - SM 1994
- Una boda desmadrada (VÍctor 4) (A mad wedding (Victor 4)) - SM 1994
- Las alas del sol (The Wings of the Sun) - SM 1994 / Perifèric 2008
- Cuando los genios andan sueltos (When the geniuses wander freely) - Grijalbo Junior 1994
- Hola, ¿puedo ayudar? (VÍctor 5) (Hello, can I give you a hand? (Victor 5)) - SM 1994
- Un poco de pasta, basta (VÍctor 6) (A bit of pasta is enough (Victor 6)) - SM 994
- ¡Sálvese quien pueda! (VÍctor 7) (Run for your lives! (Victor 7))  - SM 1994
- Un día en casa (VÍctor 8) (A day at home (Victor 8)) - SM 1994
- El guardían de la luna (The Moon guardian) - Anaya 1994
- Tres días salvajes (VÍctor 9) (Three wild days (Victor 9)) - SM 1995
- Jamalají, jamalajá (VÍctor 10) - SM 1995
- ¿Vacaciones? ¡No, gracias! (VÍctor 11) (Holidays? No, thank you! (Victor 11)) - SM 1995
- Un cabell blanc en un cap pelut (White hair on a hairy head) - Columna 1995 / Bruño 1999
- Dando la nota (VÍctor 12) (Giving the note (Victor 12)  - SM 1995
- Noche de paz...o casi (VÍctor 13) (Silent night, or nearly (Victor 13) - SM 1995
- Un genio en la tele (A genius on TV) - Anaya 1996
- El niño que vivÍa en las estrellas (The boy who lived in the stars) - Alfaguara 1996
- Zack Galaxy, una aventura intergaláctica (Zack Galaxy, an intergalactic adventure - Alfaguara 1996/Grup Promotor 2000
- Caotica función teatral (VÍctor 14) (Chaotic play performance (Victor 14)) - SM 1996
- El candidato novato (VÍctor 15) (The nouvelle candidate (Victor 15)) - SM 1996
- El caso del cuadro desaparecido (The mystery of the missing painting) - La Galera 1996
- Zack Galaxy: Persecución total (Zack Galaxy: Total chase) - Alfaguara 1997
- Sólo un dÍa de más (Only one more day) - Edebé 1997
- Zack Galaxy: Misión secreta (Zack Galaxy: Secret mission) - Alfaguara 1998
- ¡Espera, Nza! (Hang on, Nza!) - La Galera 1998
- Les històries perdudes (The lost stories) - Cruïlla 1999/SM 2000
- La niña que no podÍa reir (The girl who could not smile) - STJ 2000
- Tres (Historias de terror) (Three terror tales) - Espasa 2000
- La reina de los cielos (The queen of the skies) - Everest 2000
- El fabuloso Mundo de las Letras (The Wonderful World of Letters) - SM 2000
- Querido hijo: estás despedido (Dear son: You are fired) - Alfaguara 2000
- El asesinato del profesor de matemáticas (The murder of the maths teacher) - Anaya 2000/Barcanova 2002
- Els homes de les cadires (The men of the chairs) - Cruïlla 2000 / SM 2001
- Aventura en la Tierra (Patrulla Galáctica 752, nº1) (Adventure on Earth (Galactic Patrol 752, No.1) - Bruño 2001
- Misión en Marte (Patrulla Galáctica 752, nº2) (Mission on Mars (Galactic Patrol 752, No.2) - Bruño 2001
- Por los anillos de Saturno (Patrulla Galáctica 752, nº3) (Around Saturn rings (Galactic Patrol 752, No.3) - Bruño 2001
- Salvar la Luna (Patrulla Gal·ctica 752, nº4) (Save the Moon (Galactic Patrol 752, No. 4) - Bruño 2001
- Perdidos en un planeta llamado Tierra (Lost in a planet called Earth) - SM 2001
- La biblioteca de los libros vacÍos (The library of the empty books) - Libresa (Ecuador) 2001 / Cruïlla 2002 / Algar 2006
- Historias de Medio Mundo (Mexico) (Stories of half a world) - Fondo de Cultura Económica  2001
- Sietecolores (Seven colours) - Arrayán (Chile) 2001
- El disco mágico (The magic CD) / El CD diabòlic - Norma (Colombia) 2001 / Cruïlla 2005
- El misterio del Goya robado (The mystery of the stolen Goya) - Edebé 2001/4
- ¡Ellos son diferentes! (They are different!) - Edebé 2001
- Fantasmas en Plutón (Patrulla Galáctica 752, nº5) (Ghosts in Pluto (Galactic Patrol 752, No. 5) - Bruño 2002
- Peligro en JúpÍter (Patrulla Galáctica 752, nº6) (Danger on Jupiter (Galactic Patrol 752, No. 6) - Bruño 2002
- La asombrosa historia del Viajero de las Estrellas (The amazing story of the Star Traveller) - Grupo Editorial Norma (Colombia) 2002
- La locura de las palabras (The madness of words) / El festival de les paraules - Megatrix Bruño 2002 7 Ed. El Pirata 2008
- El extraordinario Félix Feliz (The extrordinary Happy Félix) - Alfaguara (Mexico) 2002/Grup Promotor 2005
- Mi primer libro de Ópera (My first opera book) - Diagonal/Empuries  2002
- Cuentos imposibles (Impossible tales) - Arrayán (Chile) 2003
- Los moais de Pascua (The moais on Easter Island) - Edebé 2003
- Tortilla de aspirinas (An aspirin omelette) - SM 2003
- El fantasma de la biblioteca (The library ghost) - Cruïlla 2003
- Soy especial para mis amigos (I am special for my friends) - Edebé / Down Sindrome Fundation 2003
- ¿Qué seré cuando sea mayor? (What shall I be when I grow up?) - Edebé / Down Sindrom Fundation 2003
- Mis hermanos y yo (My brothers and me) - Edebé / Down Sindrom Fundation 2003
- Un ratón de biblioteca (A book worm) - Espasa 2003
- El soldado y la niña (The soldier and the girl) - Destino 2003
- Beltiberios y Zambranios (Beltiberians and Zambranians) - Planeta Oxford 2004/05
- La bomba (una fábula en tres dimensiones) (The bomb (a three dimensional fable)) - Edelvives/Baula 2004
- El misterio del sello millonario (The mystery of the million worth stamp) - Edebé 2004
- El misterio del loro rapero (The mystery of the rapper parrot) - Edebé 2004
- El ángel caído (The fallen angel) - Amigos del Libro Infantil y Juvenil 2005
- Una (estupenda) historia de princesas y dragones (...más o menos) (A (great) story of princesses and dragons (...more or less)) - Alfaguara 2005
- Cuentos y poemas para un mes cualquiera (Tales and poems for any month) - Planeta Oxford 2005 / Oxford 2010
- Los tres deseos (The three whisehs) - Panamericana (Colombia) 2005
- La palabra más hermosa (The most beautiful word) - Libresa (Ecuador) 2005 / Grup 62 2009 / Algar 2010
- Las flores de hielo (The ice flowers) - Libresa (Ecuador) 2005
- Querido Rey de España (Dear King of Spain) - Edelvives 2005
- Material sensible (Cuentos crueles) - SM 2005 / Perifèric 2009
- El largo camino de Yabal (The long way of Yabal) - Libresa (Ecuador) 2005
- El séptimo pasajero y otros relatos fantásticos (The seventh passenger and other fantastic tales) - Libresa (Ecuador) 2005
- El viaje de Narayan (The voyage of Narayan) - Fundació La Caixa 2006
- Cuentos para niños que creen en marcianos (Tales for a children´s believe in martians) - Norma (Colombia) 2006
- El misterio del diamante galáctico (The mystery of the galactic diamant) - Edebé 2006
- El misterio del elefante desaparecido - Edebé 2006
- El dìa que Edu se convirtió en cucaracha - Alfaguara 2006
- Óperas contadas para niños - Empuries 2006
- Las mil y una noches (...o casi) - Edebé 2006
- La casa vieja (The old house) — Destino 2007
- El camino de las Siete Lunas - Alfaguara (Colombia) 2007
- El misterio del futbolista secuestrado - Edebé 2007
- En busca de las voces perdidas - Planeta-Oxford 2007 / Oxford 2010
- El asesinato de la profesora de lengua - Anaya 2007
- La gran aventura (The great adventure) - Bambú 2007
- Genios en apuros (Genius in trouble) - Panamericana (Colombia) 2007
- La mansión de las mil puertas (Tres historias de terror) - Planeta Oxford 2008
- El niño que se cayó en un agujero - Zorro Rojo 2008
- La fabulosa leyenda del Rey Arturo (The fabulous legend of King Arthur) - Edebé 2008
- ¡Pesadillas vivas! - Castillo Macmillan (México) 2008
- El pueblo de los horrores - Castillo Macmillan (México) 2008
- Mi cole (My school) - Algar/Bromera 2008
- El fantasma del loco vengador - Castillo Macmillan (México) 2009
- El espejo diabólico - Castillo Macmillan (México) 2009
- La ciudad que aprendió a sonreír - Panamericana (Colombia) 2009
- Gulliver Siglo XXI (Gulliver XXI) - Edebé 2009
- Querer es poder (Alberto Contador) - SM 2009
- El monstruo de la realidad virtual - Castillo Macmillan 2010
- El secreto del escritor fabuloso (The secret of fabulous wtiter) - Castillo Macmillan 2010
- Diario de un pardillo - Destino 2010
- Historia de un segundo (History of a second) - SM 2010
- El misterio del videojuego asesino - Edebé 2010
- El misterio del robot loco - Edebé 2010
- 16 músicos muy, muy importantes (16 musics very, very important) - Bruño 2010
- El asesinato del profesor de música (The murder of music teacher) - Anaya/Barcanova 2011
- La rosa de Sant Jordi (The rose of St. George) - Grup Promotor Alfaguara 2011
- Un ensurt a mitjanit i altres contes - Grup 62 2011
- El conde Letras - Ed.Progreso (México) 2011
- En el suelo del cielo - Panamericana (Colombia) 2011


Narrative

He is the author of several works amongst which we should mention “The sun has set in the Canary Islands” (1979) and the trilogy “Exile time” (2002-2003) in Spanish and “La pell de la revolta” (The memory skin) (2004) in Catalan. In the period 2008-2011 publishing the notorius trilogy "Fou days of January", "Seven days of july! and "Five days of october".


History

First historian of rock music in Spain. His two encyclopaedias “Historia de la Música rock” (History of rock music) (100 booklets, 6 books) in 1981-83 and “La Gran Enciclopedia del Rock de la A a la Z” (The Great Rock Encyclopaedia from A to Z) (100 booklets, 5 books) in 1994-96 are two of his works that are well worth a mention.


Biographies

Several biographies of music stars (the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan, Led Zeppelin, Joan Manuel Serrat, John Lennon and Frank Sinatra) as well as Gandhi.


Poetry

Four poetry anthologies.

BOOKS WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF EDITIONS IN SPAIN
ON February 1, 2012         


69 editions - Campos de fresas (Strawberry fields) - SM/Cruilla 1997 (42 Spanish + 24 Catalonian + 2 Círculo + 1 Audiobook)

45 editions - Noche de viernes (Friday night) - Alfaguara/Voramar 1993 (32 Spanish + 11 Catalonian + 1 Círculo + 1 Punto de Lectura)

40 editions - En Canarias se ha puesto el sol (The Sun has set in the Canary Islands) - Planeta 1979

38 editions - La fábrica de nubes (The cloud factory) - SM/Cruilla 1991 (32 Spanish + 5 Catalonian+Mass Media)

36 editions - El asesinato del profesor de matemáticas (The murder of the maths teacher) - Anaya 2000/Barcanova 2002 (24 Spanish + 12 Catalonian)

34 editions - El joven Lennon (The young Lennon) - SM/Cruilla 1988 + SM/Columna 2005 (28 Spanish + 5 Catalonian)+(1 Catalonian)

34 editions - El espejo del futuro (The mirror of the future) - Edebé 1992 (16 Spanish + 11 Catalonian + 6 Valencian + 1 Basque language.)

34 editions - Aydin - Edebé 1994 (19 Spanish + 11 Catalonian + 4 Galician)

31 editions - Las chicas de alambre (The wire girls) - Alfaguara 1999/Grup Promotor 2005  (28 Spanish + 3 Catalonian)

28 editions - El niño que vivÌa en las estrellas (The boy who lived in the stars) - Alfaguara/Grup Promotor 1996 (20 Spanish + 8 Catalonian)

27 editions - La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Bronce 1998/Columna 2004/Planeta Lector 2011/Educaula 2011  (19 Spanish + 7 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

26 editions - La estrella de la mañana (The morning star) - SM/Cruilla 1996 (16 Spanish + 10 Catalonian)

26 editions - En un lugar llamado guerra (In a place called war) - Editores Asociados 2002/ La Galera/ Elkar/ Galaxia/ Peixe/ Xordica (4 Spanish, Bable, Aragonian, 7 Basque, 8 Catalonian and 5 Galician)

26 editions - Llamando a las puertas del cielo (Knocking on heaven´s door) - Edebé 2006 (11 Spanish + 6 Catalonian + 3 Basque + 2 Galician + 4 Valencian)

26 editions - Kafka y la muñeca viajera (Kafka and the travelling doll) - Siruela 2006/Elkar 2008 (15 Spanish + 2 Basque + 6 Catalonian + 1 Galician + 1 Círculo + 1 Audiobook)

25 editions - El temps de l’oblit (The time of forget) - Columna1993/Alba1997 (20 Catalonian + 4 Spanish + 1 Círculo)

25 editions - La piel de la memoria (The Memory skin) - Edelvives 2002/3 (17 Spanish + 3 Basque + 4 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

24 editions - Donde esté mi corazón (Wherever my heart is) - Edebé 1998 (16 Spanish +7 Catalonian+1 Valencian)

23 editions - Rabia (Rage) - SM/Cruilla 2000 (17 Spanish + 5 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

21 editions - ...en un lugar llamado Tierra (In a place called Earth) - SM 1983/Cruilla 1990  (19 Spanish + 1 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

21 editions - Malas Tierras (Bad lands) - SM/Cruïlla 1994 (17 Spanish + 4 Catalonian)

21 editions - La biblioteca dels llibres buits (The library of the empty books) - Cruïlla 2002 / Algar 2006 (15 Catalonian + 6 Spanish)

21 editons - Querido hijo: estás despedido (Dear son: You are fired) - Alfaguara 2000

21 editions - La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memory of the lost beings) - SM/Cruïlla 1998 (16 Spanish + 4 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

19 editions - Dormido sobre los espejos (Sleeping on the mirrors) Editores Asociados 2000/1/3 La Galera/Elkar/Galaxia (3 Spanish + 3 Catalonian + 9 Basque + 4 Galician)

18 editions - Las alas del sol (The Wings of the Sun) - SM 1994 / Perifèric 2008 (17 Spanish + 1 Catalonian)

18 editions - Seis historias en torno a Mario (Six stories about Mario) - Espasa  Calpe 1995/Planeta Oxford 2005 (12 Spanish + 6 Catalonian)

18 editions - 97 formas de decir "te quiero" (97 ways to say “I love you”)  - Bruño 2001/Columna 2005 (15 Spanish + 3 Catalonian)

17 editions - Nunca seremos estrellas del rock (We will never be rock stars) - Alfaguara / Columna 1995 (15 Spanish + 2 Catalonian)

17 editions - La voz interior (The voice inside) - SM 1997

17 editions - Temps de gebre (Frosting time) - Cruilla 1990/SM 2006 (14 Catalonian + 3 Spanish)

16 editions - La nave fantástica (The fantastic aircraft) - Anaya 1989 (12 Spanish + 1 Valencia + 2 Catalonian + 1 Galician)

16 editions - El último verano Miwok (The last Miwok summer) - SM 1987 / Algar 2009 (15+1)

15 editions - ¡¡¡Lambertooo!!! (Lambeeert!!!)  - Anaya 1988 (11 Spanish + 2 Catalonian + 2 Galician)

15 editions - Retrato de un adolescente manchado - Bruño 1997 (14 Spanish +1 Círculo)

14  editions - Un hombre con un tenedor en una tierra de sopas (A Man with a Fork in Soupland)  - Bruño 1998

13 editions - La balada de Siglo XXI (The ballad of the XXI century) - SM 1989

13 editions - El asesino del Sgt.Pepper’s (The murder of Sargent Pepper) - Edebé 1994 (9 Spanish + 4 Catalonian)

13 editions - El asesinato de la profesora de lengua (The murder of the language teacher) - Anaya 2007

12 editions - Los tigres del valle (The valley tigers) - Edebé 1994 (6 Spanish + 6 Catalonian)

11 editions - ¡Sorpresas! (Surprise!) - SM 1982/1989

11 editions - Historias asombrosas (Amazing stories) - Edelvives 1989 (7 Spanish + 3 Catalonian + 1 Basque)

11 editions - Soledades de Ana (Ana's loneliness) - Bromera/Algar/Erein/Galaxia 2005/6/7 (4 Catalonian + 4 Spanish + Basque + Galician + Círculo)

11 editions - Tres (historias de terror) (Three terror story's) / La mansión de las mil puertas - Espasa 2000 / Planeta Oxford 2008 (8+3)

11 editions - Cuentos y poemas para un mes cualquiera - Planeta Oxford 2005 - Oxford 2010 (7 Spanish + 2 Catalonian + 2 Galician)

10 editions - Nuevas sorpresas (New Surprises!) - SM 1985

10 editions - Regreso a un lugar llamado Tierra (The return to a place called Earth) - SM 1986

10 editions - Zack Galaxy, una aventura intergaláctica (Zack Galaxy, an intergalactic adventure - Alfaguara 1996/Grup Promotor 2000 (8 Spanish + 2 Catalonian)

10 editions - Frontera (Frontier) - SM 2003 (7 Spanish + 3 Catalonian)

10 editions - Querido Rey de España (Dear King of Spain) - Edelvives 2003

  9 editions - El cazador (The hunter) - SM 1981

  9 editions - El testamento de un lugar llamado Tierra (The testament of a place called Earth) - SM 1987

  9 editions - Un llibre monstruós (A monster book) - Cruilla 1990

  9 editions - Concierto en Sol Mayor (Concert in major sol) - Columna/La Galera 1997 (4 Catalonian + 4 Spanish + 1 Círculo)

  9 editions - Víctor Jara (Reventando los silencios) / Víctor Jara (Busting the silences) - SM/Cruilla 1999 (5 Spanish + 4 Catalonian)

  9 editions - El caso del cuadro desaparecido (The mystery of the missing painting) - La Galera 1996 (4 Spanish + 5 Catalonian)

  9 editions - Una (estupenda) historia de dragones y princesas (...más o menos) - Alfaguara 2006

  9 editions - Donde el viento da la vuelta (Wherever the wind is back) - Edebé 2001

  9 editions - Sin vuelta atrás - SM 2005 / Cruïlla 2006 (7 Spanish + 1 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

  9 editions - El fabuloso mundo de las letras (The wonderful world of letters) - SM 2000

  8 editions - Les històries perdudes (The lost stories) - Cruilla 1999/SM 2000 (3 Catalonian +5 Spanish).

  8 editions - Casting - SM 2002 / Columna 2007 (5 spanish + 3 Catalonian)

  8 editions - Los hombres de las sillas (The men of the chairs) - Cruïlla/SM 2000 (7 Catalonian + 1 Spanish)

  8 editions - Sin tiempo para soñar - Bruño 2003

  8 editions - Cabello blanco en cabeza peluda - Columna 1995 / Bruño 1999 (1 Catalonian + 8 Spanish)

  8 editions - Cuatro días de enero (Four days in january) - Plaza y Jamés 2009 (4 Spanish + 3 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

  7 editions - Kaopi - Alfaguara 1990/Grup Promotor 1993/Intermón 2010 (2 Spanish + 5 Catalonian)

  7 editions - El misterio del Goya robado - Edebé 2001/4

  7 editions - Y le llamaron Colón (And named Colon) - Edebé 2006 (5 Spanish - 1 Catalonian + 1 Galician)

  7 editions - La guerra de mi hermano (The war of my brother) — SM 2004

  7 editions - El misterio del loro rapero - Edebé 2004

  7 editions - El camino de las siete lunas (The way of the seven moons) - Alfaguara 2007

  6 editions - Al otro lado del espejo (On the other side of the mirror) - Empuries 2003/Destino 2005/Xerais 2007 (3 Catalonia + 1 Spanish + 1 Galician + 1 Círculo)

  6 editions - Querido Ronaldinho (Dear Ronaldinho) - Empuries 2004 / El Aleph 2005 (5 Catalonian + 1 Spanish)

  6 editions - Zonas interiores - Destino 2002 / Planeta 2004 / Columna 2004 (5 Spanish + 1 Catalonian)

  6 editions - Un genio en la tele - Anaya 1996

  6 editions - Las mil y una noche (...o casi) - Edebé 2007 (4 Spanish + 2 Catalonian)

  6 editions - Sala de conflictos - Edelvives 2009 (4 Spanish + 1 Catalonian + 1 Basque)

  6 editions - Radiografía de chica con tatuaje - La Galera 2007 (4 Catalonian + 2 Spanish)

  6 editions - En busca de las voces perdidas (In search of the lost voices) - Planeta Oxford 2007 / Oxford 2010 (5 Spanish + 1 Catalonian)

  6 editions - La sonrisa del diablo (The devil's smile)  - Bromera/Algar 2004 (3 Catalonian + 3 Spanish)

  6 editions - Fuera de juego (Out of the game) - SM/ Cruilla 2005 (2 Spanish + 3 Catalonian + 1 Special Edition)

  6 editions - Historia de un segundo - SM/Cruïlla 2010 (5+1)

  5 editions - El gran dragón (The great dragon) - Anaya 1990

  5 editions - El último set (The last set) - SM 1991

  5 editions - El hombre que perdió su imagen (The man who lost his image) - Anaya 1992/Barcanova 2004 (4 Spanish + 1 Catalonian)

  5 editions - Los mayores están locos, locos, locos (Víctor 2) (The grown-ups have gone crazy, crazy, crazy (Victor 2)) - SM 1994/Columna 1997 (3 Spanish + 1 Catalonian + 1 Círculo)

  5 editions - Soy especial para mis amigos — Edebé/Fundación Sindrome de Down 2003 (2 spanish + 1 Catalonia  + 1 Galician + 1 Basque)

  5 editions - ¿Qué seré cuando sea mayor? — Edebé/Fundación Sindrome de Down 2003 (2 spanish + 1 Catalonia  + 1 Galician + 1 Basque)

  5 editions - Mis hermanos y yo — Edebé/Fundación Sindrome de Down 2003 (2 spanish + 1 Catalonia  + 1 Galician + 1 Basque)

  5 editions - Los fuegos de la memoria (Memory fires) - Bromera/Algar 2007 (3 Catalonian + 2 Spanish)

  5 editions - En una esquina del corazón (On the corner of the heart) - Bruño 2004

  5 editions - The daughter's of storm, Vol.1 The maya's enigma - Edebé 2008 (3 Spanish + 2 Catalonian

  5 editions - Los moais de Pascua (The moais of Eastern Island) - Edebé 2003

  5 editions - Siete días de julio (Seven days of july) - Plaza y Janés 2010 (3 Spanish + 2 Cataloian)

  5 editions - El rastro del anillo Magno - Edelvives 2006 (3 Spanish + 2 Basque)

  5 editions - La noche de la jinetera - Bronce 2002 / Belacqva 2010 (4 Spanich + 1 Audiobook)



TOTAL BOOKS WITH MORE 5 EDITIONS: 97 BOOKS (1.393 Edicions)
TO February 1, 2012

OFFICIALLY TRANSLATED AND PUBLISHED WORKS IN OTHER LANGUAGES AND IN LATIN AMERICA    
(Unauthorised editions not included)  
 

KOREA

Get connected to energy!  (Lost in a planet called Earth) - 21st. Century Books 2002
Mi primer libro de Ópera (10 Óperas contadas para niños) (My first Opera Book - 10 Operas for Children) - Nuribo 2004
The soldier and the girl - Publishing Moonji 2004
Kafka y la muñeca viajera (Kafka and the traveler puppet) — Publishing Moonji 2006
La casa vieja - Saetor Publishing 2010
El niño que se cayó en un agujero - Darim Publishing 2010
Gulliver XXI - Booklight Publisher 2010
El misterio del Goya robado - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del sello millonario - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del loro rapero - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del futbolista secuestrado - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del diamante galáctico - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del elefante desaparecido - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del disco raro - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del videojuego asesino - Book 21 Publishers 2010
El misterio del robot loco - Book 21 Publishers 2010
La música del viento - Ed. Prunsoop 2011
Al otro lado del espejo - Publit 2011

CHINA

El espejo del futuro - New Buds 2010
Kafka y la muñeca viajera - New Buds 2010
El misterio del Goya robado - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del sello millonario - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del loro rapero - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del futbolista secuestrado - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del diamante galáctico - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del elefante desaparecido - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del disco raro - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del videojuego asesino - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
El misterio del robot loco - Zehijiang Juvenile & Children 2010
La fábrica de nubes - New Buds 2011
La biblioteca de los libros vacíos - New Buds 2011

ITALY

Hanno ucciso un robot (When logic fails, the system calls Zuk-1) - Mondadori 1991
I miti dei rock in live (5 volumenes) - Orbis Fabri 1995
I miti dei rock in live Vol. 1 - Orbis Fabri 1995
I miti dei rock in live Vol. 2 - Orbis Fabri 1996
I miti dei rock in live Vol. 3 - Orbis Fabri 1996
I miti dei rock in live Vol. 4 - Orbis Fabri 1997
I miti dei rock in live Vol. 5 - Orbis Fabri 1997
L'assassino del Sergente Pepper (El asesino del Sgt. Pepper´s/The Murder of Sargent Pepper) - Mondadori 1998
Corvi, fantasmi, occhi che si accendono (Brain change, narrative) - Edizione EL 2001
Cyborg (Only for Zuk-1) - Mondadori 2001
Il mistero del quadro scomparso (The mystery of the missing painting) - Mondadori     2002
Zack Galaxy-Missione segreta (Zack Galaxy-Secret Mission) - Mondadori 2002
Zack Galaxy-Inseguimento spaziale (Zack Galaxy-Total Chase) - Mondadori 2004
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The Memories of the Lost Beings) - Loescher Editore 2006
Kafka e la bambola viaggiatrice (Kafka y la muñeca viajera) - Adriano Salani 2009

FRANCE

...en un lieu nommé terre (...en un lugar llamado Tierra /...in a place called Earth) - Axel Noel 1992
Retour en un lieu nommé terre (Regreso a un lugar llamado Tierra / The return to a place called Earth) - Axel Noel 1993
Testament d´un lieu nommé terre (El testamento de un lugar llamado Tierra / The testament of a place called Earth) - Axel Noel 1993
La fureur de mourir (Cadáveres bien parecidos/Good looking corpses) - La Mascara France 1999
Le prix de la peur (El mensajero del miedo/The fear messenger) - Hachette-Jeunesse 2005
Diario de un pardillo - Bayard 2010

GERMANY

Der letze miwok-indianer (El último verano miwok/The last miwok summer) - Signal 1989
Ungebeten Gäste (Cambio de cerebro / Brain change, narrative for "Lisensgefhrlich!") - Ravensburger 1998
Tod in Havanna (Cuba, la noche de la jinetera / Cuba, the night of the whore) - Distel 2000
La música del viento (The Music of The Wind) - Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart  2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The Memories of the Lost Beings) - Ernst Klett Verlag, Stuttgart 2006
Gauditronix - Dresslet 2009
Orillas de Marruecos (relato de "Material sensible") - Joseff Raabe Verlag 2010
Y en algún lugar de España, Europa (relato de "Material sensible") - Joseff Raabe Verlag 2010
Historia de un segundo - Baumhaus Verlag / Lübbe 2010
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The Memories of the Lost Beings) - Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH 2011
Frontera (Frontier) - Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH 2011
Casting - Ernst Klett Sprachen GmbH 2012
Historia de un segundo - Bastei Lübbe 2012

BRAZIL

O jovem Lennon (The Young Lennon) - Nova Alexandría 1995
Aydin - Pia sociedade Filhas de Sao Paulo, Paulinas, 1999
A estrela da manha (The morning star) - Pia sociedade Filhas de Sao Paulo, Paulinas, 2001
As asas do sol (The Wings of the Sun) - Pia sociedade Filhas de Sao Paulo, Paulinas, 2001
¡Ligado na energía! (Lost in a planet called Earth) - Editorial Ática 2003
A fábrica de nuvens (The Cloud Factory) - Ediçoes SM
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The Memories of the Lost Beings) - SBS 2006
Kafka e a boneca viajante (Kafka y la muñeca viajera) — Martins Editora Livraria Ltda. 2008
Las 1001 noches — Ed. Paulinas 2009
O mistério do Goya roubado (El misterio del Goya robado) - FTD Editora 2010
O misterio do selo milionário (El misterio del sello millonario) - FTD Editora 2010
O misterio do diamante galáctico (El misterio del diamante galáctico) - FTD Editora 2010
O misterio do jogador de futebol sequestrado (El misterio del futbolista secuestrado) - FTD Editora 2010
Juego, set y partido - Martins Editora Livraia Ltda. 2011

UNITED STATES

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - EMC Corp. 2001
Aydin - Houghton Mifflin Company 2002
La fábrica de nubes (The cloud factory) - Houghton Mifflin Company 2002
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - EMC Corp. Minneapolis 2006
Kafka & the travelling doll - HakaBooks.com (Sale on line)
Strawberry fields - HakaBooks.com (Sale on line)
Sensitive matter (Cruel accounts) - HakaBooks.com (Sale on line)
Aydin - HakaBooks.com (Sale on line)
Barcelona Noir (Various authors) - Akashic Books 2011

GREAT BRITAIN

Uninvited guests (Brain change, narrative from the book "Fingers on the back of the neck and other spine-chilling tales") - Puffin books/Penguin 1996
La música del viento (The music of the wind) - European Schoolbooks 2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - European Schoolbooks Publishing Ltd. 2006
Kafka & the travelling doll - HakaBooks.com (Sale on line)
Strawberry fields - HakaBooks.com (Sale on line)

PORTUGAL

Um homem com um garfo numa terra de sopas (A man with a fork in  soupland) - Ambar 2000
Casting - Dom Quixote 2004
Nao dances com a morte (Strawberry fields) - Dom Quixote 2004
Querido Ronaldinho - Editora Ulisseia 2005
Diário de um totó (Diario de un pardillo) - Planeta Manuscrito 2010

RUSIA

 Daughters of Storms 1 (Las hijas de las tormentas Vol 1: El enigma maya) — ASTrel 2009
 Daughters of Storms 2 (Las hijas de las tormentas Vol.2: La cruz del Nilo) — ASTrel 2009
 Daughters of Storms 3 (Las hijas de las tormentas Vol.3: El quinto cristal) — ASTrel 2009

ROMANIA

 Daughters of Storms 1 (Las hijas de las tormentas Vol 1: El enigma maya) —  RivaPublishers 2009
 Daughters of Storms 2 (Las hijas de las tormentas Vol.2: La cruz del Nilo) —  RivaPublishers 2009
 Daughters of Storms 3 (Las hijas de las tormentas Vol.3: El quinto cristal) —  RivaPublishers 2009

JAPAN

Last minute news (Víctor collection) - Kokudo-sha Co. Ltd. 1998
La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Italia Shobo 2001

SLOVAKIA

The last set - Juga 1997
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Eurobooks 2006

SLOVENIA

La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - DZS Inc. 2006

BULGARIA

The young Lennon - Svyat Publisherd 1992

FINLAND

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Tammi Publishers 2001

GREECE

El cazador (The hunter) - Gnosis Publishing 1991
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Kosmos Floras Bookshops 2006

DENMARK

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Aschehoug A/S 2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Aschehough/Alinea 2006

HOLLAND

Ongenode gasten (Brain change, narrative from the book "Lees dit niet!") -  Lemniscat     1996
La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Woolters-Noordhoff 2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Wolters-Noordhoff 2006

AUSTRALIA

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - CIS/Heinemann 2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The Memories of the Lost Beings) - Heinemann 2006

NEW ZEALAND

Uninvited guests (Brain change, narrative from the book "Don´t read this!”) Groundwoods 1999

NORWAY

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Gyldendal Norsk Forlag 2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The Memories of the Lost Beings) - Gyldenhal Norsk Forlag 2006

TURKEY

La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Nuans Kitapcilik 2006

IRÁN

La piel de la memoria (The skin of the memorie) - Ed. Kebab Sara 2008

SWEDEN

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Almqvist & Wiksell 2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Liber AB 2006

CANADA

Uninvited guests (Brain change, narrative from the book "Donít read this!”)  Font Street 1999

REPUBLICA CHECA

La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Egmont S.R. 2006
Holky jako nitky (Las chicas de alambre) - Cooboo, Grup Albatros 2010
Kafka a panenka cestovatelka (Kafka y la muñeca viajera) - Albatros 2011

POLAND

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Wydawnictwo Lektorklett 2001
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Wydawnictwo Lektorklett 2005
Cuatro días de enero (Four days in january) - Albatros 2009
Truskawkowe pola (Campos de fresas, Strawberry fields) - Akapit Press 2010
Rabia - Akapit Press 2011
Casting - Akapit Press 2011
Siete días de julio - Albatros 2012
Cinco días de octubre - Albatros 2012
Sombras en el tiempo - Albatros 2012

HUNGARY

La música del viento (The music of the wind) - Klett Meló-Diák 2001
El misterio del loro rapero (The mystery of the rapper parrot) - Mandorla Publishing Home 2005
La memoria de los seres perdidos (The memories of the lost beings) - Klett Kiado Kft 2005

COLOMBIA (Special editions)

La nave fantástica (The fantastic aircraft) - Ed. Patria 1994
Relatos galácticos (Galactic tales) - Cultura Recreativa 1994
El hombre que perdió su imagen (The man who lost his image) - Cultura Recreativa
Las chicas de alambre (The Wire Girls) - Alfaguara 2001
El niño que vivÌa en las estrellas (The Child that Lived in the Stars) - Alfaguara 2001
Noche de viernes (Friday night) - Alfaguara 2004
Nunca seremos estrellas del rock (We will never be rock stars) - Alfaguara 2004
Querido hijo: estás despedido - Alfaguara 2006
Una (estupenda) historia de dragones y princesas - Alfaguara 2007
Lágrimas de sangre (Tears of blood) - Alfaguara 2009
La nueva tierra (The new land) - Alfaguara 2010
Campos de fresas (Strawberry fields) - SM 2010

ECUADOR (Special editions)

El caso del Goya robado (The mystery of the stolen Goya) - Libresa 2004
El caso del sello millonario (The mystery of the million dollar stamp) - Libresa 2004
El caso del loro rapero (The mystery of the rapper parrot) - Libresa 2004
El niño que vivía en las estrellas (The child that Lives in the Stars) - Alfaguara 2004
Ronaldinho, el corazón de la sonrisa (Ronaldinho, the heart of the sunrise) - Libresa 2005

MEXICO (Special editions)

La nave fantástica (The fantastic aircraft) - Ed. Patria 1994
Relatos galácticos (Galactic tales) - Cultura Recreativa 1994
Zack Galaxy, una aventura intergal·ctica (Zack Galaxy, an intergalactic adventure) - Alfaguara 2004
Querido hijo: estás despedido (Dear son: You are fired) - Alfaguara 2004
El niño que vivÌa en las estrellas (The Child that Lived in the Stars) - Alfaguara 2004
Las alas del sol (The wings of the sun) - SM 2008
Kafka y la muñeca viajera - Siruela 2009
La fábrica de nubes - SM 2009
Rabia - SM 2010
Las 1001 noches - Edebé 2010
Donde el viento da la vuelta - Edebé 2011
El espejo del futuro - Edebé 2011
Donde esté mi corazón - Edebé 2011
Llamando a las puertas del cielo - Edebé 2011

CHILE (Special editions)

John Lennon - El Mercurio Newspaper 2003
Las chicas de alambre (The Wire Girls) - Alfaguara 2004
Noche de viernes (Friday night) - Alfaguara 2004

ARGENTINA (Special editions)

La memoria de los seres perdidos - SM 2010

PERU (Special editions)

El niño que vivÌa en las estrellas (The Child that Lived in the Stars) - Alfaguara 2004
Rabia (Rage) - Ediciones SM 2010
Frontera (Frontier) - Ediciones SM 2010

CUBA (Special editions)

...en un lugar llamado Tierra - Ed. Gente Nueva 2008
Regreso a un lugar llamado Tierra - Ed. Gente Nueva 2008
El testamento de un lugar llamado Tierra - Ed. Gente Nueva 2009
Noche de luna en el Estrecho - Ed. Gente nueva 2009

EUSKERA

 Istorio harrigarriak (Historias asombrosas) - Edelvives 1989
 Etorkizunaren ispilua (El espejo del futuro) - Edebé 1996
 Ispiluen gainean lotan (Dormido sobre los espejos) - Elkarlanean Argitaletxea 2001
 Gerra da leku honen izena (En un lugar llamado guerra) - Elkarlanean Argitaletxea 2002
 Droimenaren azala (La piel de la memoria) - Edelvives 2002
 Berezia naiz lagunentzat (Soy especial para mis amigos) - Edebé 2003
 Zer izango naiz handia neizenean? (¿Qué seré cuando sea mayor?) - Edebé 2003
 Nire anaiak eta ni (Mis hermanos y yo) - Edebé 2003
 Zeruko ateetan deika (Llamando a las puertas del cielo) - Edebé 2006
 Anaren bakardadea (Soledades de Ana) - Erein 2006
 Eratzun Ospetsuaren arrastoa (El anillo Magno) - Edelvives 2006
 Kafka eta pampina bidaiaria (Kafka y la muñeca viajera) - Elkar 2008
 Gatazka gela (Sala de conflictos) - Ibaizabal 2010

GALLEGO

 O gardián da Lúa (El guardian de la Luna) - Anaya 1994
 Aydin (Aydin) - Edebé 1995
 ¡¡¡Lambertooo!!! (¡¡¡Lambertooo!!!) - Anaya 1995
 A nave fantastica (La nave fantástica) - Anaya 1996
 Nun lugar chamado guerra (En un lugar llamado guerra) - Galaxia 2002
 Son especial para os meus amigos (Soy especial para mis amigos) - Edebé 2003
 ¿Qué serei de maior? (¿Qué seré de mayor) - Edebé 2003
 Os meus irmáns e mais eu (Mis hermanos y yo) - Edebé 2003
 Durmido sobre os espellos (Dormido sobre los espejos) - Galaxia 2003
 Chamando ás portas do ceo (Llamando a las puertas del cielo) - Edebé-Rodeira 2006
 E chamáronlle Colón (Y le llamaron Colón) - Edebé/Rodeira 2006
 Contos e poemas para un mes calquera (Cuentos y poemas para un mes cualquiera) - Planeta Oxford 2006
 Do outro lado do espello (Al otro lado del espejo) - Xerais 2007
 Soidades de Ana (Soledades de Ana) - Galaxia 2007
 A fabulosa lenda do Rei Artur (La fabulosa leyenda del Rey Arturo) - Edebé/Rodeira 2008
 Kafka e a boneca viaxeira (Kafka y la muñeca viajera) - Galaxia 2009
 A modelo descalza (La modelo descalza) - Galaxia 2011

VALENCIANO

Nit de divendres (Noche de viernes) - Voramar 1995
La nau fantàstica (La nave fantástica) - Anaya 1995
L'espill del futur (El espejo del futuro) - Edebé 1997
Trucant a les portes del cel (Llamando a las puertas del cielo) - Edebé 2006 
Allà on siga el meu cor (Donde esté mi corazón) - Edebé 2009
Jo (Yo) - Tandem 2010

ARAGONES

En un puesto clamato guerra (En un lugar llamado guerra) - Xordica 2002

BABLE

Nun lugar chamado guerra (En un lugar llamado guerra) - Libros del Pexe 2002


UNPUBLISHED WORKS IN SOUTH AMERICA
(WORKS THAT HAVE NOT BEEN PUBLISHED IN SPAIN IN SPANISH)


COLOMBIA

Marte XXIII (Mars XXIII) - Grupo Editorial Norma 2001
El disco mágico (The magic CD) - Grupo Editorial Norma 2001
La asombrosa historia del Viajero de las Estrellas (The amazing story of the Star Traveller) - Grupo Editorial Norma 2003
El secreto de las perlas (The secret of the pearls) - Panamericana 2005 (4 ed. to 2009)
Los tres deseos (The three wishes) - Panamericana 2005
John Lennon. Imagina que esto fue real (John Lennon. Imagine this was real) - Panamericana 2005
Cuentos para niños que creen en marcianos - Norma 2006
El camino se las Siete Lunas - Alfaguara 2007
Genios en apuros - Panamericana 2007
Atlántico (30 historias de dos mundos) (Varios autores) - Norma 2009
La ciudad que aprendió a sonreír - Panamericana 2009

MEXICO

Historias de Medio Mundo (Stories of half a world) - Fondo de Cultura Económica 2001
El extraordinario Félix Feliz (The extrordinary happy Félix) - Alfaguara 2002
¡Pesadillas vivas! — Castillo Macmillan 2008
El pueblo de los horrores — Castillo Macmillan 2008
El fantasma del loco vengador — Castillo Macmillan 2009
El espejo diabólico — Castillo Macmillan 2009
El monstruo de la realidad virtual - Castillo Macmillan 2009
El secreto del escritor fabuloso — Castillo Macmillan 2010

CHILE

Sietecolores (Seven colours) - Arrayán 2001/Marenostrum 2009
Cuentos imposibles (Impossible tales) - Arrayán 2003/Marenostrum 2009
El cazador - Marenostrum 2010

ECUADOR

La biblioteca de los libros vacÌos (The library of the empty books) - Libresa 2001
Las flores de hielo (The ice flowers) - Libresa 2005
El largo camino de Yabal (The long road to Yabal) - Libresa 2005
La palabra más hermosa (The most beautiful word) - Libresa 2005
El séptimo pasajero y otros relatos fantásticos (The seventh passenger & other fantastic tales) - Libresa 2005

CUBA

¿Quieres que te cuente? (Varios autores) - Cuba 2008

THE JORDI SIERRA I FABRA LITERATURE WORKSHOP FOUNDATION FOR LATIN AMERICA (Medellín, Colombia)


    The Fundación Taller de Letras Jordi Sierra i Fabra (Jordi Sierra i Fabra Literature Workshop Foundation) for Latin America is a non-profit organization based in Medellin that intends to encourage reading and literary creation by means of awareness, training and research programmes. It  develops reading and writing projects to improve the standard of living of children and youngsters in a vulnerable social situation.

    PROGRAMMES

    For boys and girls who want to grow as readers

    - First letters: a workshop to encourage reading for the younger ones.
    - A workshop to create and illustrate tales.
    - Storytelling: a reading club in English.
    - Meeting authors and graphic illustrators of children´s literature.
    - Workshops to encourage reading.

    For youngsters who want to explore new ways of reading and writing

    - Young letters: Meeting of young creators with publishers, writers and literary workshop monitors.
    - A town to read: city tours and reading workshops at different cultural spots in the city.
    - Written page: Information and orientation for young creators (meetings, grants, competitions, workshops).
    - Jordi Sierra i Fabra Literary Prize for young writers.
    - Workshops on reading and literature creation.
    - Seminars on cinema, music and literature.

    For teachers and reader monitors who are looking for new ideas

    - Lectures and workshops on the training of readers at home, at school at libraries.
    - Didactic seminars on strategies for the promotion and encouragement of reading.
    - Seminar on the analysis and systematization of experiences in the encouragement of reading.
    - Courses and workshops on children's and youngsters´ literature.

    For institutions committed to the training of readers

    - Organizing cultural events and anniversaries in relation with books and reading.
    - Lectures and workshops on the promotion and encouragement of reading.
    - Consulting and aiding in the design of official plans, programmes and projects to encourage reading.
    - Consulting aid for the selection of reading texts.
    - Classification and categorization of reading texts.

    The Fundación Taller de Letras Jordi Sierra i Fabra para Latinoamérica is managed by:

    Juan Pablo Hernández - Director
    Tatiana María Jaramillo - Project coordinator

    And its addres is:

    Calle 53, nº45-64, Oficina 203 (Edificio Thunapá), Medellín (Colombia)
    Telefax: (574) 511.20.60
    Mail: <tallerdeletras@une.net.co>
    WEB: www.sierraifabra.com

1 - Speech to the 27th International Congress of the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, September 2000
2 - Inaugural Lecture of the First National Meeting for the Encouragement of Reading (Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport) - Murcia, March 2003



Speech to the 27th International Congress of the IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Cartagena de Indias, Colombia, September 2000

     A WORD CALLED COMMITMENT

    When a person are an alcoholic, you get up on an Alcoholics Anonymous platform and say “My name is Fred Bloggs and I am an alcoholic”. I normally get up on platforms and say “My name is Jordi Sierra i Fabra and I’m a writer”. Of course it’s not the same, but in my case it helps to describe a whole world, the world of what one is, what one expects, what one is after. That’s all there is to it. There’s nothing else. I just have to keep writing more and more and more, as Ray Bradbury said, till I’m completely satiated.
    So.Welcome to you all and thank you. My name is Jordi Sierra i Fabra and I’m a writer. I was born on Planet Earth and today I’m very happy. I’m in friendly territory, surrounded by friends, and by books given the subject of this Conference. I don’t know really if the conference is opening the door to the twenty-first century or bringing down the curtain on the twentieth, but either way it is a beautiful proposal for the future.
    When Günter Grass was given the Principe de Asturias Prize for his literary works, he said something with which I immediately identified. The great German author said “I just wanted to be a writer, till Germany came into my life”. Just like him, when I was a boy I wanted to be a writer, to live, to feel, to travel, to make people happy, to tell beautiful stories and be loved for them. But if Nazi Germany, Hitler and the Second World War came into Günter Grass’ life and made his writing far from complacent, for me it was the world, the whole world, that came into my life. And that world is today an essential and fundamental part of my narrative work.
    I have always been an inveterate traveller, a devourer of images and words, a visionary that has been perplexed by, frightened by, gladdened by, in love with and above all in solidarity with everything I have seen. I am also na?ve, an awestruck kid who can’t give up his dream, his utopia, the passion with which he imagines that one book is everything, absolutely everything. I still believe that hope is the greatest weapon of our faith. But we must feed hope with actions, gestures, help, strength, more words. This is why every book we write is an act of faith and hope. And every reader is our ultimate reward.
    I love literature more than anything else in the world. I would never dream of doing anything that would tarnish it or that could be used by anyone wishing to attack it. This is why I know that when I am telling a harrowing tale, some people may be upset or offended. But I cannot betray what I am and what I believe in. Every time a child says to me “I hate reading”, I feel an enormous burden weighing down upon my soul, because it is as if that child was saying “I hate breathing, feeling or living”. But for all those children who don’t read, don’t read very much, or even hate reading, there will always be others who enter the pages of a book with excitement, with a thirst for knowledge and with an empty space in their mind which the stories we tell in our books will help to fill. But how can we fill this space? What stories should we give the children?
    Fifteen years ago my writing was transformed and radicalized by a change of consciousness on my part, when I stopped travelling with rock-stars and went to much tougher, much more difficult corners of the world. I thought I would end up sidelining myself as an author, but I didn’t care, I wanted to describe the reality I encountered on my travels. Artists must always do what they believe, without dwelling on any other considerations. They must write about what they feel, when they feel it and how they feel it. The surprise for me was that since then my realist books have become more and more popular.
    In my country, Spain, there has been a controversy in the last ten years as to whether children or young people should be given books to help them or books that are aimed at making them think. And not only in Spain, I have heard similar debates in other places I have visited. Some people think that children should be given happiness and nothing but happiness, because there’ll be plenty of time later to find out about the world’s problems. I cannot agree with that idea. I also write happy books, and funny books, of course, but the proof that thousands of children and young people expect and want something more lies in the sales figures. My socially committed books are not only my biggest sellers but have also become recommended reading in a lot of Spanish schools.
    I have written about child slaves, child refugees, organ transplants, juvenile violence, drugs, intolerance, racism, emigration, the power of new technologies, endangered species and fundamentally, as this is another constant theme in my work, some of the big issues that have devastated Latin America in recent decades: the dictatorships in Argentina and Chile, the extinction of indigenous tribes in Brazil, the struggle in Chiapas and the killings of peasants in Guatemala.
    My commitment has been based on recounting what I have seen and fighting for what I believe in. And in the case of the reader, as opposed to TV violence which happens and passes into history without going beyond its role as a news item, a novel will have a hundred, a thousand times greater impact, because the novel contains the whole story. Reading the novel will help them reason, make up their own minds and face up to the reality that surrounds them and to life itself. In my opinion literature must be a mirror in which we can portray both ourselves and the reality of our lives. It must make us happy, but it must help us too.
    The second half of the 20th Century has given us communication at a worldwide level. Everything that happens can be seen on TV screens around the world in five minutes. There is maybe even too much information, a saturation, but the news items we hear every day are like little advertising slots that peck away at us and leave a greater or lesser mark, to such an extent that in the end we lose our historical perspective on what is happening, and what is more serious, we lose sight of the roots, of the reasons why a certain thing is happening. A lot of wars or conflicts start at a given time and finish years later. Who remembers the causes? Even if young people watch TV news or read newspapers, they have no historical perspective before the time they were born. Everything that happened before is pure prehistory. I have become used to young people telling me, after reading one of my books, ìNow I understand the problem, the root. Nobody had told me what happened before especially in a way that I can understandî.
    I am not saying that all of us have to write tough, direct, socially committed literature, because every writer is his/her own universe and the word respect is fundamental in art, but there are authors who must take the risk of being less pleasant and more real, because we have this world that runs through our lives and only by making it known will we enable future generations to improve it. This is our commitment. I think that those of us who write for children and young people can’t just think about what they are going to like, satisfying their innocence only with easy books, nor can we think solely about how to earn the money to pay the bills. Those of us who write for children and young people do it for readers to whom we must give sincerity and honesty, value and truth, telling them “That’s the way it is. Now it’s up to you”. And I don’t think that’s an enormous weight to put on their shoulders, quite the opposite in fact. At heart, the great majority of them want to be in this world to do something. All we have to do is motivate them, nothing more. Or is it better to protect them from the wolf by denying that it exists? Going even further, is it that some of the writers realise that when, through their questions and their interest, the children find out the truth, they are sometimes being told that the world they are being bequeathed is a cruel world and that makes the writers feel bad?
    I vote for truth and honesty, for the struggle for ideals and the endurance of hope, for the power of the written word and the light that arouses the reader. I champion this cause because amongst all the fantasy or galactic worlds and the happy, funny stories that light up the eyes of a child, we must also accept the commitment to tell the truth wherever we may find it, and offer it to our readers with passion and sincerity, forgetting whatever the latest fashions may be and forsaking our own purely financial interest. Only with a responsible childhood will we create just adults. Only from culture and knowledge will we make that far from Utopian dream of making the world a better place come true. The challenges of the twenty-first century are going to be enormous, so big that we cannot even imagine them, because we are not prepared for them yet. The children and young people of today and of the immediate future can expect something intense, incredible, possibly spectacular, maybe even devastating, but always fascinating, because that is life, evolution and progress. We can begin to deal with it now by being honest with our reality. And our reality has a lot of bitter points and stories that people must be told, even if only to try to prevent them from being repeated.


Inaugural Lecture of the First National Meeting for the Encouragement of Reading (Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport) - Murcia, March 2003

    HOW TO READ IN THE 21ST CENTURY?

    I must start by saying that I have not come here just to make a speech about what a wonderful thing reading is or how great it is to write. This forum is too important for me just to do the easy stuff. Besides, this is a “Meeting for the Encouragement of Reading”. Encourage is the word. We are all committed to this idea. We must first encourage ourselves so that later we can encourage others. I don’t even know if I am the right person to be here, because all I am is a story-teller. I am not an intellectual or a pedagogue. I don’t have a degree, I lack the abilities of a teacher or the sensibility of an educator. What is more, sometimes people don’t like what I say, they think it’s too direct or too controversial. On some issues I’m a radical, but my aim is certainly not to offend anyone, at most perhaps to shake up people’s consciences. We all want the same, to defend the pleasure of reading and the need to read, to make young people love reading. I think I am here because I have been a writer for 30 years, and because of your support, which has made me one of the ten most recommended and most frequently read authors in our schools according to the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport, and of course because of the over 2,000 meetings I have had over the last 18 years with young people from Spain and Latin America.
    I am a product of reading not of studying. What I know is what I got from the books I read when I was a boy, and as an adult from my travels around the world. However, despite the fact that my childhood was wonderful because of reading, it was also terrible because of the things we didn’t have. Nobody ever came to the school to tell us anything, and I swore that one day, if I could, I would devote some of my time to doing that. I also promised myself that I would never turn my back on any boy or girl, because I know what it feels like to be alone when nobody believes in you or your dreams. So far I think I have kept my promise. I have always been an inveterate traveller, a devourer of images and words, a visionary that has been perplexed by, frightened by, gladdened by, in love with and above all in solidarity with everything I have seen. I am also na?ve, an awestruck kid who can’t give up his dream, his utopia, the passion with which he imagines that one book is everything, absolutely everything. I still believe that hope is the greatest weapon of our faith. But we must feed hope with actions, gestures, help, strength, more words. This is why every book we write is an act of faith and hope.
    We are lost without passion in many aspects of life including some of the most mundane. Art is passion. Literature is passion. Teaching is passion. Life is passion. But something is going wrong somewhere when the main focus of our work is left cold when faced with a book, when in spite of everything in Spain let’s face it we have such low reading rates at all ages, when we have to oblige children to read through school. Why are we different? Is it something in our genes, our culture, in our history? Some people say that a lot of countries, and particularly the English-speaking ones, have a more deep-rooted habit of reading, because the Bible was always read at home from early childhood, whereas we come from the Judeo-Christian religion in which the same Bible was read to us from the pulpit, not explained to us at home. But whatever the reasons for our limited inclinations to read, we cannot just stop trying. The problem did not appear today, ten years ago or twenty years ago for that matter. Our backwardness is secular and we have inherited it. In schools today, the children read more than ever, but we still don’t read very much, and what is more serious, we have not been able to create more adult readers from the base established in childhood at school. My father did not want me to be a writer and even forbade me to become one, because he said we lived in a land of asses, in which nobody read books and I would therefore not be able to earn a crust to live on and I would starve. He said that over 40 years ago.
    So once again we have to consider the big issue, the big challenge, How can we instil a love of literature? How can we transmit a love of reading when we have just entered a new century in which everything seems to be working against us, from TV to Internet, from videogames to the latest mobile-phones? What should we do when the drive or enthusiasm or even the resources are missing?
    We always talk about books as an essential part of our lives and of growing-up, of our leisure and of our culture, however the contempt with which books are sometimes treated is appalling. Here are some examples:
    On the night of the 5th January I took more than a hundred new books from re-editions of my works to an organization that organised collections of toys for children on the Day of the Three Kings (6th January - Traditional day for giving presents at Christmastime in Spain). The person who was collecting looked at me with a puzzled expression and told me they wanted toys not books. I reminded him that a book was just as good a present as a toy and I had almost to persuade him to take them. I would like to know how many parents or grandparents are in the habit of giving books as presents at Christmas. And I would like to know when a book stopped being a present for a child.
    Second example. The Sunday edition of El País on 3rd February this year presented a 14 page in-depth study of today’s adolescents. Life, habits, likes’. the word “book” did not appear once on those 14 pages. The questions were about whether they had a mobile phone, a video-console, a DVD, if they went to the cinema, out dancing, for a few drinks, what they did with their free time. Books were absent, as of course was reading, from the lives of those interviewed who were supposedly an accurate reflection of the current generation of Spanish adolescents.
    Third example and for me the most devastating. Operacion Triunfo (Spanish version of Pop Idol, Fame Academy) last January. One of the 6 finalists, Miguel Nández, proclaimed in one of the daily highlights programmes broadcast on Channel 2, that he had never read a book in his life, and that it was nice for him that the first one was in the Academy because he was reading one (which we did not see). I swear I felt like sending him a box of books. I didn’t do it because I thought it would be a waste of time or because somebody would think I was doing it to get myself known. I felt embarrassed for him. One of their heroes was telling them that he was there, almost about to win (he was one of the favourites then), without ever having read a book. He was encouraging thousands of young people to argue what was obvious, that to be something in life, to be successful, reading was of absolutely no importance. No programme manager from TVE (Spanish National TV Station) decided to cut out this aberration. When they were editing the day’s filming for the short half-hour highlights programme, someone must have thought that this comment was important. Perhaps they thought it was unusual, funny. Or perhaps they did it as a way of portraying the lad? I don’t know, although I don’t think so. But this comment encouraged hundreds of youngsters to strengthen their convictions that reading is boring and completely useless.
    I won’t give any more examples because these are sufficient. A book is never in the hands of a leading actor in “Un paso adelante”, “Operacion Triunfo” or any other youth-market programme with which they may identify. It is not their job to preach the virtues of literature, but neither is it to advertise drinks and a lot of young people appear with a glass or a can in their hand, sometimes deliberately advertising a particular brand. These programmes create tendencies and fashions and try hard to follow the young look. But it is completely unthinkable at the moment for anyone in these programmes to appear at any time with a book or to talk about something related to one.
    We are fighting almost without anything and against everything. We have made books disappear from our lives, either through apathy or ignorance. Books no longer exist. Nor do we writers. Books for children and young adults only have a place once a year at Christmastime in most national newspapers and never on private or public TV stations. A year ago we created a manifesto against invisibility which was published in some of the media specialising in books for children and young adults, and only in them, and we are still invisible, as invisible as our books are in terms of the publicity they are given. Those who should be reading us, know nothing about us. I’m not saying we should create some sort of artificial star-system to make us known and that our books be read because of our good looks or because of the scandals we get involved in, but it is obvious that the writers of Children’s Literature are not a reference for them, and in this case the blame must be shared by the publishers, the media and by part of the powers that be. How do you make someone read something he knows nothing about? How can they value someone who they don’t know exists? Not even the sales of books, which in some cases run into millions, are newsworthy. If I myself have spent two decades visiting schools and have first-hand information, why am I never asked about the way I see the country and its future generations?
    I have always said that school is the cornerstone of the current system, and this has earned me applause from a lot of teachers and an angry response from others who claim that their duty is to teach and that’s it. I stand firm on this idea. Today more than ever. Today home is not the first reference point for cultural support, instead it is a meeting-point in which a lot of different forces converge. There is a TV in each bedroom, work or studies create a diaspora in which there is less contact between the members of the household, different timetables, closed doors. We have homes formed by the typical married couple, but we also have single-parent families, either because the couple have divorced or because one of them has chosen to raise a family in this way. It is difficult for a child to see his father, mother or elder brother reading when there is less family life, more rushing around, more isolation. And we’re moving towards a future that is even more uncertain. A future in which the book more than ever before must become a part of our lives, not just a decoration in the lounge. Books must be present, not forced upon us. A book must be entertainment as well as culture. Please, let’s not create any more robots, more young philistines who will soon turn into atrocious, irresponsible, intolerant, violent, sexist, narrow-minded and limited parents, without any values, with football as their only guiding star, isolated from each other. If we educate people, we prevent this intolerance, this racism, urban or domestic violence, lack of understanding, egoism, the impunity with which we are exhausting our planet’s resources and many more etceteras. Culture is not just about doing a degree, or even reading a book. It is about absorbing life, having your own ideas and your own opinions, maintaining your individuality within the community. And this is what we have to instil in them. How? I suppose by investing more and more in libraries, teachers, resources, but definitely not by advertising campaigns or slogans which they laugh at, because let’s not deceive ourselves, at 15 years old, very few kids ever think they could possibly get AIDS or that if they don’t wear a helmet when they’re on their motorbikes, they could get killed, or that reading could be the difference between having a chance and condemning yourself in advance to a life of emptiness. Scorning risk is a part of their lives. And given that perspective on life, books don’t even appear necessary. We live in a high-speed world in which the idea of stopping to read a book seems totally absurd. And yet this is the only possible stop. But also, when we talk about culture, we mustn’t forget that it is everything. It is easy to govern a country full of asses. And what is easy is also comfortable. The challenge must be to govern in a country that is worth governing, whoever is in charge.
    The fact that a pupil reads a book a term is not reading, because if you read a chapter a week, or a page a day, and not a line more, you won’t understand anything. Let’s not kid ourselves. A lot of you say to me “OK, but it’s better than nothing” or “What can I do about it?”. The work here must be a joint effort and we’re not going to achieve it overnight or next year even. It begins in high circles with the Ministry, the Culture Departments of each Regional Government and ends with the schoolmaster or mistress lost and forgotten in a mountain village with hardly any resources apart from their own enthusiasm, which is normally very strong. Sometimes one person is enough to change things. In Bolivia, a woman told me that every month she carried books in the saddlebags of her donkey through the mountains, and gave out and collected novels which the villagers devoured. I was moved both by the facts of the story and by how thrilled she seemed when she was telling me it. “Do you know what, Jordi?” she said. “Your books are the ones they ask for most, especially the youngsters”. A grain of sand. Maybe. But we are all grains of sand. Each one of you teaches a small number of students. Sand. And in a whole life, that sand may not even fill a bucket. In the same way, a book is also a grain of sand. It takes a lot to become rocks, a lot of time and patience, but what other choice do we have? We cannot oblige anyone to read, but we must strive to make them understand why it is necessary. And we have to do it in the context of the 21st Century, because nothing can ever evolve or develop from intransigent, outdated attitudes. The title question of my speech is “How to read in the 21st Century?” It should also be extended to “What to read in the 21st Century?”
    I am proud to be number 8 of the top 10 most recommended and read authors for students of between 12 and 16 years of age behind Bécquer, Lorca, Galdós, Baroja or García Márquez. But do we really believe that just by reading Becquer’s rhymes or “La Regenta” or “La Celestina” we will make readers? We live in a time of different interests and concerns with a generation that counts in euros, talks about computers and has lost a lot of the values with which we grew up, of whatever kind, moral, spiritual, social etc. It is a new time, which requires a new approach. We must read Clarín, Lorca, Gald’s and Baroja of course, but this new world in which we live does not appear in their works and can only be found in contemporary novels. I was obliged to read Cervantes, and God knows how much I hated him. I only appreciated the quality of Don Quixote when years later I reread it by choice. Today students have the chance to meet the author whose books they have read, something which is important and creates a relationship, mutual understanding, closeness. It is important to arouse their curiosity. Today’s generation wants to feel involved in the books they are reading. There is a lot of “I can’t be bothered”, a huge amount, but there is also a great spirit of solidarity with a lot of young people working in NGOs, in social action full of commitment.
    The second half of the 20th Century has given us the chance to communicate at a worldwide level. Everything that happens can be seen on TV screens around the world in five minutes. There is maybe even too much information, a saturation, but the news items we hear every day are like little advertising slots that peck away at us and leave a greater or lesser mark, to such an extent that in the end we lose our historical perspective on what is happening, and what is more serious, we lose sight of the roots, of the reasons why a certain thing is happening. A lot of wars or conflicts start at a given time and finish years later. Who remembers the causes? Even if young people watch TV news or read newspapers, they have no historical perspective before the time they were born. Everything that happened before is pure prehistory. I have become used to young people telling me, after reading one of my books, “Now I understand the problem, the root. Nobody had ever told me what happened before (the events), especially in a way that I can understand”. For me this is placing a book at the service of society, providing both escapism and learning. That is why I keep going on about the importance of contemporary literature in the battle for gaining and keeping readers. I ask those people at the Ministry of Culture, Education and Sport who organize the syllabus not to wipe out readers by forcing them to read the classics and nothing but the classics, and I ask teachers in schools to remember the times we are living in. I don’t know how many of today’s authors will still be read a hundred years from now. But in the last forty years an excellent generation of authors have emerged who deserve a chance and who are fighting on the front line, with their books, with their professionalism, visiting schools. For every classic that the children are obliged to read, they read three modern books, without being told which titles to read or being limited to any particular field, a free choice.
    But there is more: young people are not idiots. They feel misunderstood, yes, and pushed aside, and trampled all over for a lot of reasons while they are crossing the threshold of adolescence, but they are not stupid. When they read something that interests them, they immerse themselves in it. When someone shows them a new horizon, they go towards it. There are also those who believe that a book for young people should be different, simple, trivial, stuffed full of adventures and little else. I disagree. Literature for children and young people is Literature with a capital ‘L”. When you produce good literature you get a response.
    At the beginning of the nineties my books started to get tougher. They became books of protest, of absolute social commitment which has been their hallmark ever since. I have written about child slaves, child refugees, organ transplants, juvenile violence, drugs, intolerance, racism, emigration, the power of new technologies, endangered species. My commitment has been based on recounting what I have seen and fighting for what I believe in. And in the case of the reader, as opposed to TV violence which happens and passes into history without going beyond its role as a news item, a novel will have a hundred, a thousand times greater impact, because the novel contains the whole story. Reading the novel will help them reason, make up their own minds and face up to the reality that surrounds them and to life itself. In my opinion literature must be a mirror in which we can portray both ourselves and the reality of our lives. It must make us happy, but it must help us too. This has been my personal quest. That’s why I stopped travelling with rock-stars and started going to much tougher, more difficult corners of the world. I thought I would end up sidelining myself as an author, but I didn’t care, I wanted to describe the reality I encountered on my travels. My philosophy is that authors must always do what they believe, without dwelling on any other considerations. They must write about what they feel, when they feel it and how they feel it. The surprise for me was that since then my realist books have become more and more popular. I was writing “Noche de Viernes” (Friday Night) because I felt this urge to do so and I said to myself “I think my books are going to stop selling and we’re going to go hungry, because of this, or they’re not going to publish this or it’s going to put people’s backs up”. It was published, there have been 30 editions so far, almost 200,000 books sold and it is considered a reference point, an example. It began with personal recommendations from one teacher to another and then the pupils started doing the same and that was enough. Young people have that rebellious side, that spirit of solidarity, that semi-tragic mark of adolescent heroes, and the word “Commitment” means a lot to them. All of my work over the last 13 years has that commitment and this is what has sold best. The two things must be related. These issues interest young people. This is why I have made commitment my cause. This is why I travel around the world, recounting what I see, and I talk to boys and girls from the five continents, not from the privileged position of a writer but from a position of equality as human beings. I normally tell them not to look at me as anything special, because I am like them but with a small difference, I am older and have more experience.
    I am absolutely convinced that a person who does not read is doomed to fail in life, unless he/she has some special quality that enables them to overcome this enormous gap in their lives. Nine out of ten people that grow up in ignorance are candidates for difficult lives, uncertain employment, frustrations as adults, depression, retirement in precarious circumstances, emptiness and silence. But if neither AIDS nor pregnancies can make young people take precautions when they have sexual relations, which is something very immediate, how do you make them see that absorbing knowledge through books will mean they will have a better life in the future? If we are not imaginative, in ten years time we will be here again having the same meeting to discuss the same questions.
    We must not rule anything out, or lower our objectives or the level, but we must adapt it, create synergies, be smarter than them, because let’s face it we’re older than they are. Some years ago, a schoolmaster asked me in desperation what he could do to make his pupils read. I proposed a plan to him. I told him to bring a book into class with all his notebooks and papers and to put it on the table in such a way that only the spine could be seen, not the cover. I told him that the pupils, who out of habit observe the way you dress and what you do, would make an effort to read the title and that that day or the next, one of them would be sure to ask him what he was reading. Then the teacher would say something like “Oh, nothing. It’s just a novel.” This would have to be like a “What’s it about?” from one of the pupils, to which the teacher would add “You wouldn’t like it, it’s too shocking for kids your age”. This is the trick, to provoke a reaction from the kids, to make them say. “Why can’t I read it? Does he think I’m stupid? Maybe it’s about sex and wild nights out on the town?” And the game cannot stop there. I told the teacher to tell them a bit about the plot, with passion, while insisting that it wasn’t suitable for them and finally to propose to them “If anyone wants to read it, I’ll pass it on to them when I finish it”. Something he should not do immediately in order to arouse anxiety and questions like “Haven’t you finished it yet?” He shouldn’t leave it too long though.
    He rang me a few months later and told me it had worked, that about half a dozen kids who previously had never read books, were now reading. The game of provocation, laying a trap, creating a mystery was the solution. These students were reading novels undreamt of before. It worked. Another grain of sand, but this is the way. And this way must be found in every village, every area, every Community, each with their own specific problems. And later, together, all of us can work and work and work. Tirelessly. Because every boy or girl who lets reading into their lives is another hope. On top of everything we’ve done wrong in the past, we must build each proposal for the future. We must be capable of analysing the many mistakes we have made rather than the few successes, and we must not believe that one success is enough. This is a never-ending battle, because every year new boys and girls are entering school, and every five years the norms and customs of society change at incredible speed. We must start now by training librarians who understand what their role, and of course their job, is. And sometimes it’s not just a question of money. Imagination is another important aspect. A library must also be a play centre. We must make school the genuine cultural motor for the future, not a place to park your children, or an obligation for children and adolescents. I sincerely believe that today we can no longer argue that school is solely a place you go to learn things. I think it is instead the place in which they will be educated and formed.
    I would like to refer to my experience as a regular visitor to schools, high schools and universities in recent years. I do this as an example and a summary of what I was saying earlier that school is the place where we should be working on culture and the pleasure of reading.
    In my years as a giver of talks at schools I have encountered cases and habits that must disappear. One of the most frequent is to ask the publisher to send an author, whoever it may be, because it is necessary to give a bit of a shine to a Culture Week, as if there were no difference for example between Pérez Reverte and Miguel Delibes, or between Bruce Springsteen and Placido Domingo in music. Another case is the school that proudly announces it has managed to organize visits from 15 authors in one year, as if the important thing was to score points against rival schools in the area, when what matters is who visits, what they say and how well this goes down with the students. If there is anything worse than a boring book, it is an author that sends them to sleep. In recent years school visits have fallen into a dangerous routine. There are schools that don’t read any books from a certain publisher, unless they send them the author, which means they will never read Roald Dahl or Michel Ende, or any living author who is either too busy or too old to visit the school. They prefer a mediocre book to a good one just because the author visits the school. Other schools cannot invite a particular writer because the maths teacher vetoes them at the staff meeting, or refuses to give up his classroom so that the pupils can participate in the event. The publishers are not blameless either in the current madness, as it is not unusual for them to propose a minimum sale in exchange for sending the author, who is almost always unaware of these deals hatched behind his back.
    In spite of this, I still think that in the absence of more, better, updated libraries and more and better campaigns to publicise our works in Spain and abroad, the writer-student contact is the best method available today. My books have been published in 25 languages and are available in 50 countries, but it has been a laborious, slightly amateurish job shared between myself and my publishers. The scorn shown by publishers from English-speaking countries is notorious. Translate a Spanish author, who has not been translated before, why? If you, the teachers, did not read and recommend our books, we would surely all starve to death.
    It is often said that if an adolescent sees her parents reading, she will get into the habit of reading too. It is better to have parents who read, of course, but given that these days, children, out of the need to rebel against their old folks, tend to do the opposite to what their parents do, the fact that their parents read does not necessarily mean that the children will too. Parents that are smokers often have children who become non-smokers and vice versa. Friends of mine who don’t read at all have children who devour books and accuse their parents of being “ignorant”, and other friends who read a lot find that their rebellious sons and daughters show no interest whatsoever. A father and a mother acquire the responsibility of parenthood when they decide to have children and form a family, but if they have never been told that reading is a fundamental part of their children’s mental development, their responsibility is confined to feeding and dressing them and doing the best for them as they see it, but it will be hard for them to understand that their children’s future may depend on something other than studying or working. These are the parents that complain that books are too expensive, while they smoke two packets of cigarettes a day, and if their son has read a book this term, “what does he want another one for?” These are the parents that associate reading with homework, as most adolescents do. Parents complain at school that their children are given too many exercises to do as homework, one of which is reading. Not long ago, a father told me, “My daughter spends all day reading. That can’t be good, can it? She doesn’t even watch TV. She’ll end up stupid or something like that”. It took me a long time to convince him that for his daughter reading every day was like doing three degrees, although without receiving a diploma.
    Something I often find when I come to a village in Spain somewhere where there are two schools, is that in the first one I get a fantastic reception with banners, music, filming on video and a party to celebrate the arrival of the writer, and in the other an hour and a half later, completely the opposite, no enthusiasm, indifference, boredom. The reactions of the boys and girls from the different schools matched the different receptions. And it does not matter whether the writer is able to win over the two audiences in the same way. The important thing is that before the writer arrived there was someone who was capable of generating enthusiasm to confront that indifference that is even more contagious. Why in two schools in the same village is a writer received in two completely different ways? Because in one of the schools there is a teacher who has managed to light a flame in his pupil’s souls and in the other there is not.
    In fifteen years, I have met a lot of enthusiastic teachers, fighters at various stages of exhaustion. Why not? Teachers of the sort who don’t give up, because in every class there is a group of boys and girls who expect “something”, and there may be even a potential writer, who may be left to wither or may blossom into something. These teachers are able to laugh, to transmit their enthusiasm, to earn the pupil’s confidence without losing their respect. I prefer them to the terrible “beaks” of my time at school. You started trembling immediately you saw them, even before they opened their mouths. This is a teacher who doesn’t give orders, though he’s clearly in charge, who rather suggests, invites and joins in. He is the first to read the book that the class will have to read or who talks about a book which he hasn’t told them to read but which he thinks is good. There are lots of ways of teaching and not all of them have to be during class time.
    I know that schools are becoming the centre for everything and anything in education: be it road education, sex education, environmental education. A lot of students go to a dozen talks a year which have nothing to do with the syllabus itself. But if they don’t read, they cannot think, reason, write or study. When a maths teacher doesn’t let his students go to a talk by a writer who is visiting the school, “because mathematics are more important than literature”, he is using cannonballs to kill ants and what is worse he is shooting himself in the foot. These students will know how to add two and two together, but will they know how to write it? I tremble when I hear a teenager saying “I don’t like reading” or worse still “I hate reading”. I feel an enormous burden weighing down upon my soul, because it is as if that child were saying “I hate breathing, feeling or living”. I am amazed when a boy or girl tells me “Your book is the first book I have ever read in my life and I enjoyed it. I’m going to read another one”. It’s like living in another world. And it is sad to have to make them read out of obligation. I know. When a teenager asks me if it is good that they should be made to read, I normally answer “No it isn’t, but’ when you are ill, they take you to the Doctor, and even if you don’t like it they give you medicine to make you better, or they operate on you. If you don’t like reading you are ill in the soul, in the head, and in many other places, so the only remedy is the good aspirin of a book, whether you like it or notî.
    Given that an uneducated country is a lost country, teachers have an enormous responsibility, something which not all of them are willing to accept. Parents accuse them when their children fail at school. If they are strict, they accuse them of being strict, and if they are soft, of being soft; and we have all heard the typical comments about a fabulous life with three months holidays and all the rest; or that they pick on their children etc. etc. Violent parents, lack of understanding, loneliness, loss of respect, nerves stretched to breaking-point, sensation of impotence, of struggling in vain, unrewarded effort’. Teachers today bear a much bigger responsibility than the one they opted for and they are badly-paid too, oh yes, I know, we know! They deserve the highest salaries for everything they do and for the responsibility they must bear. They are the base on which the system stands. Sorry you are the base on which the system stands. The essence of the question still remains the same: they chose it, you chose it. To a greater or lesser extent you believed in it. You don’t sell potatoes nor do you make esparto knickers, which is not to imply any lack of honour or merit in these two professions. A father or a mother who arrives home exhausted by their work, or with their nerves in shreds because they are out of work, turns on the TV whether the sun’s shining or it’s raining cats and dogs, whether their daughter has misbehaved or their son has broken the spin-dryer. This is their world. In other words, no fathers or mothers ever choose beforehand the type of life they want and even less the lives of their children. The majority improvise and adapt to events as they happen. But every working day in the world from September to June, teachers do know why they are doing what they do, and because of their education and their intellectual level they know a lot of things about which a lot of parents have no idea. These teachers should not be too concerned about what there is at home, if the family read or not, if the parents are aware of the value of reading. They should cast all of this aside and think only of what they can give this boy or girl. They are teachers after all. When a father in India sells his son for $15 to a carpet-maker, he does it perhaps to be able to feed his other ten children. Perhaps. We can judge him, shudder from our Western viewpoint, think of him as inhuman, and perhaps we will work to recover this child, to drag him out of slavery, give him an education, help him to improve, because above all else, he is a child. Here in Spain, parents do not sell their children, but there are a lot who in other ways are just as irresponsible, ignorant and inhuman as the man in India who sold his son. We have to forget worrying about whether parents teach their children to read or not. We have that peculiar, beautiful thing that is capable of changing the world called a book. We believe in it. It is our weapon and we must use it.
    “How to read in the 21st Century?” is a question which can initially be answered with another question, “How to present books in the future?” and another, “How to make books everyday objects?” “How to convince people of their value?” “How to sell books alongside so many other free-time activities with which they must compete?” We as politicians, teachers or authors must forget about the competition, stop complaining about the TV or videogames. If the book has got this far, it means it is in good health and has resisted five centuries of change. In itself a book is magic. In itself a book is the best and the healthiest of all drugs, the only one that causes addiction out of pleasure and does not kill. It is not necessary for teenagers to take ecstasy to light up their minds, as sadly they often believe. A book will do it a thousand times more. But we’re not going to convince them with a stupid poster and a standard slogan, but by convincing ourselves that it is possible, believing in it, tirelessly transmitting enthusiasm, equipping ourselves with the necessary resources. We live in a complete and permanent state of emergency. We are all asking each other for help. We all need each other. We urgently require a display of resistance culture and each one of us must keep the fight going as best they can. Every time a teenage reader disappears, part of the human conscience dies. Every uneducated reader is a lost seed and an opportunity for a dictator, a bigot or a murderer to appear through the crack they leave behind them. I often get carried away by the passion I feel for this issue, but I am being most sincere when I say that I believe in the fight, in this fight, because it is the fight of humanity against barbarism. It is not a question of imposing ideas. Quite the opposite. You can find everything in books. It is a question of shouting out loud, ìhey you, kids. You’ve got a chance. Are you going to let it slip away?
    On 15th February, Enrique Vila-Matas wrote this story: “Canetti, in his work “The Profession of the Writer” talks about the astonishment and indignation he felt in the 1950’s when he read a note left behind by an anonymous writer. It was a note dated 23rd August 1939, a week before the outbreak of World War II. The note said “There is nothing to be done. But if I was really a writer, I should be able to prevent the war”. Canetti thought, “How ridiculous! How pretentious! What could a single individual have done? And why a writer?” For days, Canetti mulled over this question in his mind, until he realised that the writer of the note had a profound awareness of the power of words. Canetti’s mood then changed from indignation to admiration. On closer examination, instead of seeming an idle boast, the anonymous writer’s opinion appeared the confession of his absolute failure, and perhaps even more, the confession of a “responsibility”, in precisely the situation (and this seemed to him to be the most fascinating aspect of the story) where responsibility in the normal sense of the word could least be invoked. Canetti saw that his initial indignation had been caused by the idea this person had about what a writer should be, and the fact that he considered himself to be one until the war destroyed his ideals. “And it is just that irrational claim of responsibility” writes Canetti, ìthat makes me think and attracts me about this case. A writer then would be someone who attaches great importance to words. While there are still people who take on this responsibility for words and feel them with the maximum intensity when they acknowledge their total failure, we will have the right to conserve one word, that of “writer”, which has always been used to refer to the authors of works without which we would have no conscience of what really constitutes humanityî.
    In this story there is a clear lesson, which I feel as a writer, and which we must all feel as people, as well as in our roles as teachers, educators or politicians. We will fail too if we do not convince our young people that confidence in the word is confidence in their lives and in their future.
    To finish up, I admit that I individually do not have a magic wand to change things, or wonderful ideas for converting non-readers into readers. Neither do I like using nice-sounding words that are void of meaning. However, I do have some clear ideas, a sort of basic ten commandments in which I believe and which could be an accurate summary of everything I have said. I would like to finish this speech by listing them and sharing them with you. My code of ethics is based on respect, hope and honesty, so this is my only truth.
    1. Books, like Art in general, must be present in a natural and habitual way in the lives of young people.
    2. A book is not just a cultural asset, it is also another source of entertainment in a world which every day has more and more global leisure options on offer.
    3. A book is like a record, a film, a video or a game: pure escapism.
    4. The library is the biggest (free) amusement arcade in the world and there is always a library more or less near you.
    5. Reading makes us independent, it gives us personality, power, strength, our own ideas, it sets us apart from others.
    6. Reading is the main key to the door called freedom.
    7. Reading is the only drug that genuinely opens our minds, lights us up and changes us.
    8. When we read, when we feel, we remember that we are alive and that this is a privilege.
    9. When the world tries to catch us and sicken us, reading is the only thing that can return us to our human condition.
    10. Reading is like making love. It’s you and the book, alone together sharing everything.
    Thank you for being here and taking part in this experience. Good Night.

JORDI PUBLICA SUS POEMAS INEDITOS... Y ALGO MÁS