Author: qmulcatalancentreconference

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