Spring 2023

“Sismondi, Roscoe and Comparative Literature in English”

Thursday 30 March, 6.15pm

ArtsOne, room 1.36. QMUL, Mile End Campus

With contributions by James Chow-Thomas, John London, Rachel Bryant Davies, Galin Tihanov, Angus Nicholls and others.

One of the first detailed perspectives of Catalan literature outside Spain was contained in Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi’s Historical View of the Literature of the South of Europe. Exactly two hundred years after the appearance of the English Translation of Sismondi’s book the Centre for Catalan Studies is celebrating this fascinating foundational work of comparative literature.

Join us to discover and discuss how a Swiss historian and political economist changed our perceptions of the literary roots of Europe.

Drinks will be served.

Admission: free.

To reserve please follow the link: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/sismondi-roscoe-and-comparative-literature-in-english-tickets-532692426387

Queen Mary Catalan Book Club: Brigadistes, Lives for Liberty

Monday 17 April, 7pm

Online event

We are delighted to announce the next meeting of the Queen Mary Catalan Book Club. We’ll be discussing Jordi Martí-Rueda’s Brigadistes: Vides per la llibertat (Brigadistes: Lives for Liberty).

It is a special account of the fight against Franco by the International Brigades, those non-Spaniards who went to join the struggle against fascism during the Spanish Civil War. This is the first time we have chosen a book of this kind: memoirs, personal psychology and photographic portraits, all set against the backdrop of European history in the 1930s, make this a unique publication. Sir Paul Preston calls it an “extraordinary book” and it has received much praise in the Spanish press.

A recommendation: although the book is short, don’t try and finish it all in a couple of days. The individual stories need time to digest and appreciate so start reading now.

We are lucky enough that both the author, Jordi Martí-Rueda, and the translator of the novel, Mary Ann Newman, will join us for the event. We also hope to welcome some children of those who fought as well as specialists on the International Brigades. It’ll all take place online: 17 April at 7pm.

Please register at: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/queen-mary-catalan-book-club-brigadistes-lives-for-liberty-tickets-579136963247

The UK publisher Pluto Press is kindly offering free copies to the first three people who register!