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Queen Mary Annual Catalan Lecture 2026

Join us for the 2026 Queen Mary Annual Catalan Lecture with Sergi Polo, a Catalan comedian living in London.

Film and Drama Studio, ArtsTwo, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End England

Wednesday, October 28  •  7 PM – 9 PM

Sergi Polo is an award-winning comedian who has been entertaining audiences around Europe for several years in English, Spanish and Catalan. He’s even performed in New York with Jerry Seinfeld and Jim Gaffigan. He constantly improvises material, changing tone, language and content according to his audience.  Sergi’s shows usually sell out fast, so take advantage of this free gig where Catalonia comes to London. Be prepared to be linguistically and culturally challenged.

“He’s brilliant. He’s perfect. Every joke is crafted brilliantly! We could listen to him all night”  (Ant & Dec)

A drinks reception will follow the show.

This is a free event, but you need to reserve your place (one only per person): https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sergi-polo-laughing-in-three-languages-tickets-2002158342499?aff=oddtdtcreator

Autumn 2026

15 October 2026, 6.30pm (online)

Join us online for the autumn session of the Queen Mary Catalan Book Club. For the first time in our existence we will be discussing a book of poetry Unnameable / Innombrable with Catalan poet Anna Gual and her translator AKaiser.

You can read the Catalan original and the English translation in the same book, and join the discussion! Or come online with us anyway and hear some of these sensitive and provocative poems read out loud. 

The publishers Zephyr Press (from Massachusetts) have kindly sent the Queen Mary Catalan Book Club some copies. So, we are giving away copies of the book (in Catalan/English) to the first five people who sign up for the session on Eventbrite!

Anna Gual is a prize-winning poet who has published eight collections of poetry. Her poems have been translated into French, English, German, Italian, Portuguese, Galician, Spanish, Croatian, Slovenian, and Russian.

In verse of moving originality Anna Gual tries to come to terms with the strangeness of the world and of language itself. 

“I have seen a man die
and I have seen one kill another
with one blow.”

“If poetry is an animal,
it will be an animal
that flees to everywhere.”

The book has just been placed on the Longlist for the 2026 National Translation Award (ALTA).

“Gual’s poems do not resolve the unnameable—they inhabit it.” (World Literature Today)

Please register at Eventbrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/2000577098957?aff=oddtdtcreator

📚✨ Last week, we hosted a wonderful online session of the Queen Mary Catalan Bookclub dedicated to Killing the Nerve by Anna Pazos.

We were delighted to welcome Anna Pazos alongside translators Charlotte Coombe and Laura McGloughlin for a fascinating conversation about this acclaimed work, which blends travel memoir, journalism, and personal reflection.

Together, we explored themes of identity, ambition, displacement, belonging, and what it means to “come home” in an increasingly globalized and uncertain world. From Barcelona to Thessaloniki, Jerusalem, and New York, Killing the Nerve offers a compelling journey through the challenges of adulthood and the search for meaning across borders.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us online and contributed such thoughtful questions and insights. We are also grateful to Foundry Editions for their support and for generously providing complimentary copies of the book to participants.

Thank you for being part of our reading community—we look forward to seeing you at our next Bookclub event! 📖🌍

#QueenMaryCatalanBookclub #AnnaPazos #KillingTheNerve #CatalanLiterature #LiteratureInTranslation #BookClub #FoundryEditions #CatalanBooks #ReadingCommunity

Killing the Nerve, by Anna Pazos

26 May: 6.30pm, online

We are delighted to present Anna Pazos who will be talking about her book Killing the Nerve, together with the translators Charlotte Coombe and Laura McGloughlin.

Part travel memoir, part journalism, part journey of self-discovery, this is a compelling book by a young author which has become a bestseller in Spain. This is a compelling exploration of the transition from youth to adulthood in a globalized world. Blending elements of reportage and personal narrative, Pazos takes us from Barcelona to Thessaloniki, Jerusalem, and New York, tracing a restless search for identity, purpose, and belonging.

Forced to return to Barcelona in 2021, she turns inward, reflecting on family, society, and the tensions of contemporary Catalonia. This session will explore themes of nomadism, ambition, dislocation, and the meaning of “coming home” in uncertain times.

“A sinuous and cynically challenging point of view. A generic hybrid that gives rise to a frenetic and profound reading experience.’ (Catalunya Ràdio)

“Provokes electric excitement in the discoveries that have to be shared” (El Periódico)

The publisher Foundry Editions has generously agreed to give free copies to the first four people who sign up on Eventbrite for this meeting.

Register: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queen-mary-catalan-bookclub-killing-the-nervematar-el-nervi-by-anna-pazos-tickets-1987810957083?aff=oddtdtcreator#location

What a night! ✨

Our UK premiere was completely sold out and the atmosphere couldn’t have been better. Thank you to everyone who came and made it so special — your energy, curiosity, and engagement truly filled the room.

The discussion with the director was one of those you don’t forget: powerful, thought-provoking conversations on historical memory, antifascism, and what it means to create cinema in Catalan today. Many in the audience were deeply moved, recognising their own family stories on screen — told in Valencian, with honesty and care.

We’re incredibly grateful for such an open and inspiring exchange, and for all of you who stayed, asked questions, and shared the moment with us.

We’ll keep promoting Catalan language and culture through many more activities to come. 🎬

Join us for the exclusive UK premiere of a major Valencian film from 2025 — a gripping historical drama that bridges past and present.

València, 1939.
Esperanza, an art conservator, is responsible for safeguarding the masterpieces of the Museo del Prado that were transferred to Valencia during the war to protect them from fascist bombings. When the war ends, she is arrested and interrogated by a Francoist lieutenant about a missing painting from the Prado collection: The Invasion of the Barbarians.

Eighty years later,

Aurora confronts the mayor of a town near Valencia over the exhumation of a mass grave from the Franco era discovered within the municipality. As past and present collide, buried truths demand to be uncovered.The screening will be followed by a special Q&A with the film’s director, Vicent Monsonís, offering audiences the opportunity to delve deeper into the film’s themes of memory, justice, and historical legacy.

 March 16th, 6:15 pm
 Arts One, Queen Mary University of London
 Original version (catalan) with English subtitles
 Followed by Q&A with the director and drinks reception

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to experience a powerful story of art, memory, and resistance — and to engage directly with the filmmaker behind it.

The phrase “only the people save the people,” written in mud letters on the walls, is a powerful statement that says much more than it seems. It carries a certainty that is both bitter and joyful at the same time: that solidarity, tenderness, and salvation can only be given to us by one another, without expecting too much from the rest.

Thanks to @valenciansuk and @catalans_uk for last night, Thank you for the organisation and for bringing the voices of such wonderful people. We had the opportunity to listen to @paualabajos and Òscar, author and editor of the book Memòria de fang, an essay in interview format that gathers the stories, reflections, and experiences of those affected by and who survived the flood.

We also heard the moving testimony of Rafel, a member of ValenciansUK, a Valencian living in London who lost two brothers in the flood, and who showed us the true face of dignity and struggle.

We closed the evening with an emotional concert by Pau, who set to music everything that was floating in the room and in our minds.

Thank you to everyone who attended—for the emotion, the debates, the ideas. We keep going!

An inspiring evening celebrating a novel written over more than three decades — a journey through memory, art and transformation.

We were delighted to hear Eva Bosch in conversation with Ramon Lamarca, followed by a rich and engaging discussion with the audience on art, the position of women in the artistic world, and the role of one’s mother tongue in the creative process.

Thank you to everyone who joined us and contributed such thoughtful reflections. ✨

#BookPresentation #Literature #WomenInArt #CreativeProcess #CatalanLiterature

ENG 📚✨ New visiting researcher!

We are happy to welcome Paula Espinosa Velasco, who will be joining us for a 3-month international research stay at the Centre for Catalan Studies 🎉

She holds a degree in Translation and Interpreting from Pompeu Fabra University, with further training in literary and translation studies. She is currently a predoctoral researcher at the Department of Translation and Language Sciences and a member of the TRILCAT research group.

Her PhD research focuses on colloquial literary language and slang in Catalan translations of crime fiction published in the 1960s. She has previously studied at the University of Glasgow and is now a Visiting Research Associate at Queen Mary University of London.

Alongside her academic work, she is a professional literary translator, a member of ACE Traductores, and the winner of the First Prize of the VI Complutense University Translation Award (2024) 🏆

CAT 📚✨ Nova incorporació al centre!

Donem la benvinguda a la Paula Espinosa Velasco, que farà una estada de recerca internacional de 3 mesos amb nosaltres al Centre d’Estudis Catalans 🎉

Graduada en Traducció i Interpretació per la Universitat Pompeu Fabra, amb formació en estudis literaris i de traducció, actualment és investigadora predoctoral al Departament de Traducció i Ciències del Llenguatge i membre del grup TRILCAT.

La seva recerca doctoral se centra en la llengua col·loquial i l’argot en traduccions catalanes de novel·la criminal dels anys seixanta. Ha fet estades a la Universitat de Glasgow i ara s’incorpora com a Visiting Research Associate a la Queen Mary University of London.

A més, és traductora professional (anglès, francès, català i castellà), membre d’ACE Traductores, i guanyadora del Primer Premi del VI Premio Complutense de Traducción Universitaria (2024) 🏆

Benvinguda, Paula! 💙

In September 2025, a new session of the Queen Mary Catalan Book Club took place, this time dedicated to Dead Lands (Terres mortes) by Núria Bendicho. The event was particularly enriching, as we were joined by the author herself, as well as Maruxa Relaño, translator of the English edition.

Readers discussed key aspects of the novel such as the harshness of the rural world it portrays, violence—both explicit and implicit—silence, family relationships, and the connection between the female characters and the space they inhabit. Attention was also given to the oppressive atmosphere of the text and to the role language plays in constructing this dark and suffocating universe.

Núria Bendicho then answered questions from the audience and reflected on the novel’s central themes, including marginality, solitude, and everyday brutality. She also spoke about her writing process, the importance of landscape and tone, and her literary influences. In turn, Maruxa Relaño shared her experience of translating Terres mortes into English, discussing the challenges of conveying Bendicho’s stark and precise voice in another language, as well as the choices made to preserve the stylistic and emotional force of the original text.

Overall, it was an intense and stimulating conversation about a powerful novel, enriched by the active participation of the attendees and the open dialogue with both the author and the translator.