I am very thrilled to start my return to work with a new author of the agency, Berta Jardí, with a short but fascinating novel that tells us the story of the Joan Miró painting, the Portrait of Heriberto Casany. From her family memories, the author draws the life of her grandmother’s brother, the main character of the book: Heriberto Casany. A witness marked by the history of the 1930s, but above all, by his friendship with Joan Miró. The portrait he painted was meant to immortalize him and this story reminds us how extraordinary a plain life can be, something that made me fall more in love with this well written book. Art and literature merge together, two  different worlds but with obvious parallelisms.

Berta also inaugurates publisher label, UNIVERS, that belongs to Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, with the great publisher Esther Pujol. The new house has the aim to give voice to writers like Berta Jardí, writers who have already started a career, and help them to consolidate it. Berta is a writer that deserves it without any doubt. This Sunday begins the Catalan Books Week in Barcelona and it’s a great opportunity for the readers to get to know Berta Jardí and other Catalan authors of the agency. It is indeed the perfect plan for the weekend to discover the new voices of the Catalan literature.