Sant Jordi's Day – books, love and roses

April 23 is one of Catalonia's most important dates of the year, when the country celebrates its patron Sant Jordi (Saint George) in unique style. Love is in the air as people browse street stalls to buy books and roses as gifts for their loved ones.  In this episode of Filling the Sink, writer, publisher and director of the Institut Ramon Llull, Iolanda Batallé Prats, joins Guifré Jordan and Lorcan Doherty to discuss what makes Sant Jordi such a special day and explains how Catalan literature is going from strength to strength as more and more works are published in English translation.  The acclaimed Catalan writer Marta Orriols reads from her novel Learning to Talk to Plants (Aprendre a parlar amb les plantes), winner of the 2018 Omnium Prize for Best Novel, the NoLlegiu Prize, and the Illa dels Llibres Prize for Best Novel of 2018. Excerpt in English read by Scarlett Reiners.  For a comprehensive list of books that have been translated from Catalan into other languages including English, go to Institut Ramon Llull's website.   

Om Podcasten

Little by little the sink fills up... Every week the Catalan News team explores a different aspect of Catalonia, from news and politics, to society and culture. Whether you live in Catalonia and need some of the current issues explained, or you’re simply curious about what makes this place tick. Either way, Filling the Sink has got you covered. Don’t worry if you don’t know much about this corner of land nestled between the Pyrenees and the Mediterranean. As they say in Catalonia, ”de mica en mica, s’omple la pica” - little by little, the sink fills up. Filling the Sink is a podcast from Catalan News.