In November, the book was published following the conference ‘Joan Ferraté: 100 years’, held with the aim of promoting debate and paying homage to one of the most influential theorists of literature in the last century, on the centenary of his birth.

The volume is the third in the chair’s collection.It includes the speeches by Jordi Cornudella, Andrea Montoya, Salvador Oliva, and Manel Ollé, as well as input from the audience.

It is available on paper and online on the BIBEC-UdG portal.

This publication has received funding from the Board of Trustees of the University of Girona and Girona Provincial Council.

In September, the book was published with the lecture ‘Once you have learnt to read, you are now free forever’: reading as an act of rebellion in Afro-American literature, delivered by Laura Gimeno Pahissa, a specialist in North American literature.

This is volume no.2 of the Chair’s collection, and includes the entire lecture by Gimeno, who analyses the narratives of Afro-American slaves and the role of reading as a tool for resistance, freedom and transformation.

It is available on paper and online on the BIBEC-UdG portal.

This publication has received funding from the Board of Trustees of the University of Girona and Girona Provincial Council.

The inauguration of the 2025/26 academic year was held in the Refectory Classroom of the Faculty of Arts at the UdG on Thursday, 9 October.

Two activities were held there: first, the presentation of the winning project for the grant from the Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature 2025, “I loved Barcelona, with all my weak heart. The Irish poet and the Catalan city”, in which the winner of the grant, Richard Mansell, took part. After that, the presentation of book number 2 in the collection of the Chair, ‘Once you have learnt to read, you are free forever’: reading as an act of rebellion in Afro-American literature, by Laura Gimeno Pahissa.

Those attending the inauguration received a copy of the book from the Chair’s collection.

From 7 July to 26 September, the exhibition by the Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature was open to the public at the CRAI Library of Arts at the University of Barcelona. 

The closing lecture was given at an event organised by the Fundació Tom Sharpe de Palafrugell on 18 September. The writer Màrius Serra looked at the life and work of Thomas Ridley Sharpe in a very pleasant and stimulating way in “Sharpe, sharp”.

The exhibition, which opened at the University of Girona in 2023, was on display at the University of Vic and the Autonomous University of Barcelona in 2024.  Besides a series of explanations on the life and work of Sharpe, there was a display of personal items belonging to the British writer, including his typewriter and some of his notebooks.

You can find the exhibition in virtual format at: https://crai.ub.edu/coneix-el-crai/biblioteques/biblioteca-lletres/exposicio-virtual-Catedra-Tom-Sharpe

The last talk in the second edition of the Shakespeare Today series, “Shakespeare, scriptwriter: a history of Shakespearean films”, was given on Tuesday, 13 May, by Jordi Sala Lleal.

We can find traces of Shakespeare’s work throughout the mainstream culture of the 20th and 21st centuries, and especially in the cinema: there is no other writer in history who has generated as many film adaptations as Shakespeare. The professor of comparative literature at the UdG looked back at a story that began in 1899.  You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Participants were also able to enjoy the closing of the second edition of the cycle with the screening of ‘Love’s Labour's Lost,’ by Kenneth Branagh, at the Cinema Truffaut.

Lecture attendees: 62

Photograph: Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature

On Tuesday 8 April, the penultimate session of the second edition of the Shakespeare Today series was held at the Centre Cultural La Mercè: ‘The Reception of Shakespeare in Catalonia: Landscapes of Translation’, with Helena Buffery.

Buffery, a British academic author of an essential study on Shakespeare’s fortune in Catalan, gave a detailed explanation on this subject, which is central to us: it is no surprise that Catalonia is one of the countries that produce and stage the most plays by Shakespeare.  You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 63

Photograph: Centre Cultural La Mercè

On Monday, 17 March, Joan Carreras spoke with Jordi Sala Lleal about “Shakespeare and actors”. The event was held in the La Mercè auditorium as part of the series “Dialogues around Shakespeare today”.

Carreras, one of the finest Catalan actors today, with a long professional career, told us about the experience of having put himself into the body and spirit of a handful of Shakespearean characters. You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 163

Photograph: Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature

On Tuesday, 11 February, the lecture “Shakespeare on stage, today” was given at La Mercè (Girona) by Carme Portaceli as part of the series “Dialogues around Shakespeare today”.

The current director of the TNC, who has directed several works by Shakespeare (The Winter’s Tale, Richard II, The Merry Wives of Windsor), talked to us about Shakespeare’s contemporaneity based on her career as a stage director and theatre manager.  You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 122

Photograph: Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature

The first lecture in the second edition of the cycle “Shakespeare today” was given at the Centre Cultural La Mercè (Girona) on Tuesday, 21 January. 

In the lecture “Near Shakespeare”, Joan Sellent, who has translated several pieces from Shakespeare’ s dramatic canon for the Catalan scene in the last two decades, reflected on the challenges he has had to face when translating Shakespeare into our language.

Lecture attendees: 126

Photograph: Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature

The Degree Hall of the Faculty of Arts at the University of Girona hosted the ceremony “Joan Ferraté Symposium: 100 years” on Friday, 15 November, offering an occasion for study, debate and homage to this literary critic, translator and poet, one of our most important thinkers on literature in the last century, on the centenary of his birth anniversary.

The ceremony started with a round table featuring Jordi Cornudella, poet, literary critic, translator and editor; Andrea Montoya, philologist and researcher; Salvador Oliva, poet, literary critic, linguist and translator; and Manel Ollé, literary critic and translator. It was moderated by Jordi Sala, director of the UdG’s Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature.

Next, Amàlia Ferraté, daughter of Joan Ferraté, recited a poem explaining her relationship with her father. After that, there was a screening of the documentary “Dol no hi ha més enllà ni desig entremig”, with comments afterward from Esteve Subirah, the director of the documentary, Amàlia Ferraté herself, and Xavier Pla, UdG professor and the moderator for the conversation.

The session concluded with a guided tour of the Joan Ferraté Collection, bequeathed to the University of Girona in 2017, conducted by Jaume Rufí, director of the Barri Vell Library, and by Andrea Montoya.

The organisers of the event —the ‘Institut de Llengua i Cultura Catalanes’ and the Department of Philology and Communication at the University of Girona—collaborated with the Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature in preparing the event. 

Symposium attendees: 19


Photograph: Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature

We inaugurated the new academic year at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Girona on Wednesday, 25 September.

The event started with a welcome from the director of the Chair, Jordi Sala. This was followed by a presentation of the book containing the winning stories from the 1st Chair Short Story Competition: The Welcome Speech, by Júlia Moore i Trias, and the honourable mention, The Club, by José Antonio Donaire Benito. Each of the winners also received a gift.

Before the event concluded, Laura Gimeno Pahissa, professor at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and PhD in North American Literature, gave the lecture "Once you have learned to read, you are free forever: reading as an act of rebellion in African American literature". Using excerpts from works written by African American slaves, Gimeno described the degrading effects of illiteracy and the abuse faced by illiterate individuals.

Lecture attendees: 14

Photograph: Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature

On Tuesday, 7 May, the Centre Cultural La Mercè de Girona hosted the fifth lecture in the series "Shakespeare Today. Current Visions of Shakespeare from the Perspective of Theatrical Theory and Practice'. This final lecture in the series was delivered by Àlex Rigola, who spoke on "Directing Shakespeare Today". 

Àlex Rigola is a stage director and theatre manager. He has directed theatre shows in Catalan and Spanish, including various works by Shakespeare. As a theatre manager, he is notable for having directed the Teatre Lliure from 2003 to 2011, the Biennale di Venezia from 2010 to 2016, and the Teatros del Canal in Madrid until 2017. He has recently finished setting up the Heartbreak Hotel theatre in Barcelona. You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 130

Photograph: Escola Municipal d'Humanitats La Mercè

The lecture "Richard II, Shakespeare’s least-known masterpiece", by Salvador Oliva, was given at the Centre Cultural La Mercè de Girona on Tuesday, 16 April. This lecture was the fourth in the series ‘Shakespeare Today: Current Visions of Shakespeare from the Perspective of Theatrical Theory and Practice', organised by the Chair with the collaboration of the Escola Municipal d’Humanitats La Mercè.

Salvador Oliva is a poet, writer, linguist and translator. He has translated all of Shakespeare’s works into Catalan and published numerous studies on Catalan metrics and essays centred on the English playwright, as well as other texts about literary and linguistic thought.  You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 108

Photograph: Escola Municipal d'Humanitats La Mercè

Xavier Albertí gave the lecture "God according to Shakespeare" at the Centre Cultural La Mercè de Girona on Tuesday, 12 March. This lecture was the third in the series ‘Shakespeare Today: Current Visions of Shakespeare from the Perspective of Theatrical Theory and Practice', organised by the Chair with the collaboration of the Escola Municipal d’Humanitats La Mercè.

Xavier Albertí is a stage director, actor and composer, as well as a stage designer in Catalonia and in Spain. He is one of the most outstanding Catalan artistic directors of recent decades. The most contemporary of dead playwrights—and even of living ones—William Shakespeare remains a multifaceted figure who continues to fascinate today, perhaps more than ever. This series brings together some of the finest specialists and most outstanding theatre professionals in our country who have worked in the Shakespearean sphere. You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 152

Photograph: Escola Municipal d'Humanitats La Mercè

The lecture "Rewriting Shakespeare" was given by Sergi Belbel at the Centre Cultural La Mercè de Girona on Tuesday, 20 February. This lecture is part of the series ‘Shakespeare Today: Current Visions of Shakespeare from the Perspective of Theatrical Theory and Practice', organised by the Chair with the collaboration of the Escola Municipal d’Humanitats La Mercè. You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 148

Photograph: Escola Municipal d'Humanitats La Mercè

The Lecture: "Macbeth: political ambition or legitimacy?", by Jordi Coca, was given at the Centre Cultural La Mercè de Girona on Tuesday, 30 January. This lecture is part of the series ‘Shakespeare Today: Current Visions of Shakespeare from the Perspective of Theatrical Theory and Practice', organised by the Chair with the collaboration of the Escola Municipal d’Humanitats La Mercè.  You can see the lecture by clicking here.

Lecture attendees: 88

Photograph: Escola Municipal d'Humanitats La Mercè

From 16 November to 8 January, the Tom Sharpe Exhibition at the ‘Campus Barri Vell’ Library of the University of Girona could be visited.

With this exhibition, you will have the opportunity to learn about the outstanding figure of Tom Sharpe, one of the most popular British novelists of the 20th century, who lived the last years of his life in Llafranc, and whose personal legacy we preserve in the Tom Sharpe Collection in the ‘Campus Barri Vell’ Library. The exhibition is the initial activity of the 2023-24 academic year of the Tom Sharpe Chair of Literature at the University of Girona, which will continue with a set of other initiatives (a research grant, a short story competition, a series of conferences about William Shakespeare...), with the objective of promoting literature in English and disseminating knowledge about the figure and work of Tom Sharpe.

Number of attendees:
 UVic: 300 
 UAB: 250 
 Girona: 150