Literary Europe Live

“Literary Europe Live” brings together literary festivals and venues from around Europe to foster and encourage programming that reflects the richness and diversity of the European literary landscape, to highlight and support outstanding emerging literary talent and develop live and digital audiences for writing in translation. The project has been selected for funding under the new Platforms strand of the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. The project brings together 16 literary festivals and venues in order to:

• Promote quality European writing in all its diversity to a broad range of audiences across Europe and beyond.
• Foster the development and recognition of emerging European writers by supporting their mobility and the circulation of their work, providing them with international opportunities and highlighting the most outstanding literary talent in all genres.
• Stimulate the creation of literary works and debates which explore European narratives, identity and ideas.
• Address the challenges posed by the barriers of language and the fragmentation of the European book market by acting as a catalyst for innovative approaches to Europe-wide programming of live events and the dissemination of literature in print and digital forms.
• Develop a label awarding and recognizing Europe-wide programming and transnational dissemination of European literary works.
• Promote the role of the European independent cultural sector in creating contexts in which quality literature can thrive and cross national borders.

Given that several members visited Barcelona, we took advantage of the opportunity to interview them and learn about their literary projects and their understanding of literature in the 21st century.