For a few days in May, Barbastro ceases to be just a point on the map to become a shared experience: a weekend where words take over squares, bookstores, museums, and auditoriums. The fifth edition of Barbitania has once again transformed this town in the Somontano region into a grand house of literature, where readers, authors, publishers, journalists, musicians, and locals come together around a common theme.
That thread, in 2026, is the house as a literary category and life experienceThe home that is inherited or lost, the apartment that is sought but never found, the room where one began to read or write, dwellings marked by wars, exiles, and relocations. Barbitania proposes thinking about housing as both refuge and border, intimate memory and collective narrative, and does so through a program that combines conversation, critical thinking, and a close connection to the local area.
A festival that grows from a solid literary tradition
Barbitania did not emerge from nothingbut rather as a natural extension of the historic Barbastro City Literary Competition, which for decades has combined the Barbastro City International Novel Prize and the Hermanos Argensola International Poetry Prize. Each year, more than 1.400 manuscripts are received across both categories, arriving from various autonomous communities and numerous countries in Europe and Latin America—a figure that, in this fifth edition, has once again set a participation record.
The festival organizers themselves insist that First, there was a very well-established award And then came the desire to build four days of thoughtfully planned programming around it. Under the coordination of María Ángeles Naval, a professor of Literature from Barbastro, the festival is designed almost like an essay: a central theme is chosen, over thirty activities are organized around it, and every panel, meeting, and recital is linked together meaningfully.
In this 5th edition, held from May 14th to 17th, Barbastro reaffirms that dual identityOn the one hand, a city of literary prizes with a history of more than half a century; on the other, the headquarters of a contemporary festival that looks at current reality, the changes in the book market and the new formats of cultural dissemination.
The link between the competition and the festival is crystallized in CLB/Barbitania, the brand with which the Barbastro City Council brings together both the awards and the cultural program of these days, supported by institutions such as UNED Barbastro, the Ministry of Culture and Sport, the Provincial Council of Huesca and the Somontano Region.
Dates, structure and figures of the fifth edition
The fifth edition of Barbitania takes place between Thursday, May 14th and Sunday, May 17thFor four days, Barbastro becomes one of the country's main literary hubs. The program brings together more than 40 participants and around 40 activities spread throughout the city, from the Congress Center to the Diocesan Museum, including the UNED (National University of Distance Education), historic bookstores, squares, and other cultural spaces.
The Councillor for Culture, Pilar Abad, has emphasized that this event confirms the city's commitment to a stable cultural projectThis initiative is linked to both promoting reading and writing and creating synergies with the publishing sector. It's not just about awarding prizes, but also about guaranteeing the publication and distribution of winning works through leading catalogs such as Galaxia Gutenberg (novels) and Visor (poetry).
According to municipal data and data from the Government of Aragon itself, around [number] have been filed this year 650 originals in the novel category and around 700 for poetry, which translates into more than 1.400 manuscripts received. After the jury's selection, the list is reduced to seven finalists in novel and six in poetry, who are eligible for prizes of 20.000 and 10.000 euros respectively, in addition to publication.
Last year's edition exceeded 2.000 attendees across all activitiesWith an audience drawn primarily from Aragon, but also from other parts of Spain, attracted by a program that, as the organizers point out, "cannot be found elsewhere." The idea remains the same: a manageable-scale festival, designed for relaxed conversations without the pressure of major cities.
The house as a common thread: inhabiting, remembering, writing
The 2026 motto places the House and home at the center of literary debateThe organization presents inhabiting a space as a profoundly narrative act: each home is the stage for small stories that, in the long run, contain the fractures and tensions of its time. This brings to the fore issues such as family memory, forced relocations, homes lost due to economic crises, and houses scarred by armed conflicts.
The city of Barbastro was conceived during those days as a collective house of literatureA place you can enter without an appointment to listen, ask questions, and discuss; a symbolic refuge where identity is quietly explored. The house is also understood as a metaphor for literature itself, "a place we return to and that sustains us," words that aptly summarize the spirit of this edition.
Beyond the metaphor, the festival connects this motto with very current debates: housing as a social problemThe precariousness of access to housing for younger generations, family inheritances, and the constant moves that mark many contemporary lives are all explored in the roundtables and conversations, which also draw on the experiences of authors who have lived through exile, migration, or language change.
Underlying this is an idea that is repeated in several interventions: some places cease to be just physical spaces and become times. Barbastro would not only be a citybut a period in the calendar that lights up every spring, a time that many readers, writers and book professionals already associate with encounters, readings and discoveries.
A poster of diverse voices: from Gioconda Belli to Manuel Vilas
This year's program brings together some of the most recognized figures in contemporary Spanish literature alongside emerging authors and international voices. Among the most prominent names are Gioconda Belli, Luis García Montero, Manuel Vilas, Juan Manuel de Prada, Carlos Zanón, Elvira Navarro, Lara Moreno, Aurora Luque, Jon Juaristi, Benjamín Prado, Jorge Carrión, Corina Oproae, Joaquín Pérez Azaústre, Jordi Amat, Leonardo Cano, Juan Trejo, Natalia Moreno, Carlos Marzal, Julio Espinosa, Nicolás Tsabertidis, and Cristina Consuegra, among many others.
The Nicaraguan Gioconda Belli She contributes her perspective, marked by political memory, the body as territory, and the experience of exile, with classic works such as "The Inhabited Woman" that continue to be read as manifestos about the house understood as a portable homeland. Luis Garcia Montero, , one of the fundamental voices of Spanish poetry of recent decades, participates in conversations that intersect family memory and writing, while Manuel Vilas He returns to his native Barbastro as one of the most widely read and internationally recognized novelists, presenting his new work "Iceland" (Destino, 2026).
They are also part of the lineup authors who have won awards in previous editions of the Literary Competition or those who maintain a lasting relationship with the city, such as Aleksandra Lun, Jorge Carrión, and Leonardo Cano, whose novels and essays have helped to solidify the prestige of the awards. Their presence serves to trace a kind of genealogy of "non-obvious" books, works that, as some jurors point out, might have been left out of other competitions more inclined to reward safe formulas.
Along with these figures, the program includes creators linked to cultural management and the media, such as Berna González Harbour, Eva Orúe or Cristina Consuegra, who help us think about how literature circulates today, what role prescribers play and how criticism, reviews and new recommendation formats coexist.
Literature and reality: memory, identity, migrations and cities
Many of the scheduled talks address the relationship between literature and contemporary realityThe discussions at the tables cover topics such as identity, historical memory, childhood, migratory displacements, urban transformation, changes in the family, and new forms of cultural communication, always from very diverse perspectives.
Authors like Luis García Montero and Jon Juaristi They discuss how the poetry of the 1980s and 90s transformed family memory into literary territory, with childhood bedrooms serving as the matrix of all subsequent writing. In other sessions, Juan Manuel de Prada, Juaristi, and Antonio Orejudo examine the national lineages that were constructed during the Silver Age, using stately homes as metaphors for a country that was inventing itself.
The experiences of childhoods marked by political and linguistic borders They appear in the dialogue between Corina Oproae and Aleksandra Lun, who reminisce about houses in Poland and Romania where they learned to read in a language they would later abandon to write in Spanish. This shift is not only geographical, but almost organic: changing languages implies reshaping the inner house where memories reside.
The focus on the urban present is reinforced in conversations about the material transformation of the book In the era of podcasts and audiobooks, with contributions from Berna González Harbour, Antonio Martínez Asensio, and Eva Orúe, moderated by cultural manager Cristina Consuegra. The debate focuses on how listening and orality modify the way we experience texts, and to what extent digitization alters traditional reading practices.
International dimension: wars, exiles and language change
The presence of international authors gives the festival a clear European and global dimensionTurkish writer Zülfü Livaneli participates in a conversation about wars, exiles and historical memory with translator and writer Monika Zgustova, where he reviews episodes of Turkey's recent history through Ottoman houses that changed hands after expulsions, escapes and successive occupations.
Livaneli reflects on how these emptied and reoccupied homes function as symbol of forced relocation These stories, which have shaped the 20th and part of the 21st centuries, place ownership and dispossession at the hidden heart of many armed conflicts. Hearing these stories in a small auditorium in Barbastro, far from the mainstream media, has a particular intensity that the festival itself strives to preserve.
For its part, Corina Oproae and Aleksandra Lun They offer the perspective of those who have changed their writing language, recounting how their childhood home is linked to a language that is no longer that of their current literary creation. This linguistic shift is narrated as an inner movement: the home one carries within no longer fully coincides with the soundscape in which one lives.
Thanks to these interventions, Barbastro It is part of a European and international literary circuitwithout losing its local scale or its connection with the public. The city of Huesca thus presents itself as a crossroads between the histories of Eastern Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Latin America, which engage in dialogue with contemporary Spanish reality.
Orality, radio and podcasts: literature is heard
One of the distinctive features of Barbitania is its It focuses on sound and digital formatsThe festival gives prominent space to live radio and literary podcasts, reviving the oral tradition of storytelling before a live audience while exploring new ways to reach readers who may not frequent printed books.
The journalist and critic Antonio Martínez Asensio She participates with her program "One Book, One Hour," in which she dramatizes classics and contemporary stories, and which on this occasion includes stage versions of tales by Emilia Pardo Bazán and Carmen Martín Gaite. The idea is to restore these texts to their voice-based dimension, to bring them out of the silent realm and share them in a space where even the audience's breathing is palpable.
The writer and journalist Berna González Harbor She records a live episode of her podcast "What Are You Reading?", accompanied by authors such as Elvira Navarro and Antonio Orejudo. On stage, the conversation flows with recommendations, anecdotes, and reflections on reading, while the audience follows a format they usually consume via their mobile phones or headphones.
The festival poster, designed by Isidro FerrerThis image perfectly encapsulates this intention: it shows a book transformed into a piano, with the pages becoming keys. The image functions as a metaphor for what Barbitania seeks: to return literature to its sonic nature, to take it away from screens for a while and to gather bodies that already hear voices that say, in the same physical space.
Inaugural programming and "Kilometer Zero": the surrounding area also counts
The first day of the 5th edition kicks off in the auditorium of the UNED Barbastro with the section "Books from the surrounding area: Kilometer Zero"This proposal selects and showcases local news, written and published in the area surrounding the city, with the intention of strengthening the link between literary creation and territory.
In this context, the journalist and writer Mariano Gistaín Laura Latorre and José Luis Esteban discuss their books "Un martes cualquiera" and "Malaria." Later, Sol Otto, Agustín Faro, and Marta Borraz join them to talk about "La mujer de Marcos," "Parada 4.57. Última estación," and "Años de vida." These talks offer a glimpse into projects born near Barbastro, demonstrating that local literature is not merely an add-on, but a central part of the festival's ecosystem.
The afternoon continues in the Diocesan Museum of Barbastro The event featured the presentation of "Islandia," Manuel Vilas's latest novel, in conversation with Carlos Marzal. Both authors shared reflections on memory, family, grief, and literary creation, in one of the most anticipated events of the opening day.
The first day's closing comes in the Barbastro Congress Centre With the show "Lyrical Keys in Concert," by Teo Cardalda and María Monsonis, members of the duo Cómplices. Cardalda, who was part of the legendary band Golpes Bajos, presents a project where he sets poems by Ramón María del Valle-Inclán to music, creating a kind of "pop opera" that blends ballads, rock, and rap.
On stage, Cardalda embodies Valle-Inclan And Monsonis plays Josefina Blanco, his wife. For just over an hour, a dozen poems are performed, accompanied by projections of historical images provided by the Galician author's family. The performance underscores that literature can also inhabit the concert format without losing its density or depth.
Literary prizes: novelists and poets at the center
Alongside the festival activities, Barbastro hosts the decision of the Literary Competition awardsThis is one of the most anticipated moments of the week. On Friday, May 15, the winners of the Ciudad de Barbastro International Novel Prize (57th edition) and the Hermanos Argensola International Poetry Prize (58th edition) will be announced, along with other awards included in the CLB/Barbitania.
Jury City of Barbastro International Novel PrizeThe jury, chaired by Ignacio Martínez de Pisón and composed of Lara Moreno, Juan Manuel de Prada, Inés Plana, Manuel Vilas, Joan Tarrida, Carlos Zanón, and Elvira Navarro, first selects 29 manuscripts from the 650 submitted, and from there narrows the list down to seven finalists. The winning work receives €20.000 and is published by Galaxia Gutenberg, placing the prize among the most prestigious in the Spanish language.
In the case of Argensola Brothers International Poetry PrizeThe jury is composed of Aurora Luque (president), Antonio Lucas, Gioconda Belli, Carlos Marzal, Benjamín Prado, María Ángeles Naval, and Jesús García Sánchez. After an initial selection process that narrowed the field to 34 poetry collections from a total of 700, six finalists were chosen. The winning work receives a prize of 10.000 euros and publication by Visor Poesía, a leading publisher in the Hispanic world.
In addition to these major awards, the results of the Joaquín Coll-La Mueca del Pícaro International Hyper-Short Humor Short Story Competition, of the XIV Ziudá Novel Prize in Aragonese of Balbastro and the XXVII School Narrative Prize. In this way, the CLB/Barbitania covers the entire spectrum of creative writing, from students just starting out to authors with international careers.
On this occasion, the work of authors such as Marina Perezagua, winner of the City of Barbastro Novel PrizeAnd the poet Javier Vicedo, winner of the Hermanos Argensola Prize, join a list that includes, in previous editions, Javier Tomeo, Eduardo Mendicutti, Carmen Kurtz, Jorge Carrión, Aleksandra Lun, and Leonardo Cano. This track record reflects a selection process that frequently favors unique books, sometimes difficult to categorize.
Young readers, workshops and citizen participation
Another pillar of the festival is the attention to the training of new readers and writersBarbitania offers writing workshops for children, teenagers, and adults, focusing on microfiction, narrative, poetry, and literary journalism. The aim is to provide narrative and poetic tools, but also to create a space for play, curiosity, and active listening.
Those who provide these activities include Care Santos, David Lozano, Aurora Luque, Inés Plana and Antonio LucasThese workshops adapt their programs to different levels and ages. They are practical sessions where participants write short texts, share readings, and discuss resources for improving written expression, all in a relaxed environment.
The festival also includes the presentation of School Narrative PrizeThe winner is announced at a special event featuring jurors and guest writers. The session, hosted by Álvaro Alcaine, includes appearances by figures such as David Lozano and Care Santos, who read the official record, discuss the winning texts, and engage in dialogue with the students.
The involvement of educational centers such as the IES Hermanos Argensola And the presence of teachers and students on live radio programs or in discussions reinforces the idea that the festival is not an isolated event, but a process that is prepared for months in classrooms and school libraries throughout the city.
This participatory approach contributes to the fact that the local community feels Barbitania as something of their ownnot as an event imposed from the outside. Young readers not only occupy the seats, but become protagonists of the program, either as budding authors, or as interviewers and moderators.
Music, performing arts and historic bookstores
Barbitania conceives of literature as a an experience that overflows the book and it expands into music, theater, and other arts. In addition to the aforementioned "Lyrical Keys in Concert," the program includes poetry recitals accompanied by acoustic guitar, hybrid performances, and stage productions that blend theatrical performance with dramatized readings.
The recital "Divine and Diverse," for example, brings together poets and musicians in a shared celebration of words, where poetry temporarily abandons its academic format and becomes intimate, almost like something you'd hear at a bar or during a conversation among friends. In these sessions, Orality becomes the center and the verses are heard before they are read.
The festival also takes the opportunity to to highlight the city's book industryBookstores with a history spanning decades, such as Castillón —with more than a century of history— or Moisés, open since 1936 and later moved to Barbastro from Binéfar, become venues for presentations and signings.
This edition pays special tribute to the Ibor bookstorewhich for 75 years has been part of Barbastro's cultural life. Its legacy, built "page by page," is remembered both in institutional gestures and in the words of those who have been customers, friends, or collaborators of its booksellers.
Mayor Fernando Torres and councilwoman Pilar Abad insist that Culture should also be an engine of economic and social development. For Barbastro, this adds to the city's other attractions and potential. Recent projects include the installation of sculptures in the Plaza del Mercado dedicated to the Argensola Brothers, poets after whom the poetry prize is named, and the upcoming inauguration of the new municipal library in the renovated century-old San Pedro Warehouse building.
Institutional support and projection for Aragon
The Vice President and Minister of the Presidency, Justice and Culture of the Government of Aragon, Sea CowboyShe participated in the official opening ceremony of the fifth edition, where she emphasized the festival's national and international impact. In her words, Barbitania has become a reference for the autonomous community and in an engine that energizes the local economy thanks to the arrival of visitors, media and professionals from the cultural sector.
During her visit, the Vice President signed the City Hall's Book of Honor and toured bookstores such as Ibor and Castillón, where she met with relatives of the recently deceased booksellers, Víctor Castillón Sr. and Beni Ibor. In her remarks, Mar Vaquero recalled that both were key figures in the city's cultural life, dedicating his career to guiding and accompanying readers of several generations.
The Government of Aragon has reiterated its commitment to the book sector and to projects such as Barbitania, They reinforce the roots of culture in the territoryThrough financial support, institutional collaboration, and presence at events, the aim is to consolidate an ecosystem where publishers, bookstores, libraries, festivals, and authors coexist.
Mayor Fernando Torres, for his part, defended the Barbastro council's commitment to a cultural policy sustained over timeThe aim is not merely to achieve a one-off impact or attract tourists, but to build a stable calendar of activities. The Literary Competition and Barbitania are two fundamental pillars of this strategy.
The participation of media such as Onda Cero Cinca, which has produced special programs from the Congress Center with interviews with María Ángeles Naval, Pilar Abad, teachers and students from the IES Hermanos Argensola, as well as writers such as David Lozano, Care Santos or José Luis Esteban, helps to amplify the reach of the festival beyond the city.
Barbastro as a shared literary time
Over the course of four days, Barbastro establishes itself as a literary territory where tradition and experimentation converge, long-standing awards meet new formats such as podcasts, live radio, and hybrid performances. Historic bookstores, the new library under construction, international awards, and the Barbitania festival form a cohesive ecosystem that makes the city a benchmark for readers and writers in Spain and Europe.
More than just an event, Barbitania acts as a open house to wordsWhere literature is contemplated, discussed, and celebrated from many perspectives: those of writers in exile, those who adapt their languages, young people beginning to tell their first stories, and booksellers who have nurtured the habit of reading for decades. Every May, this house rises again in Barbastro, and those who stay there for a few days leave with the feeling that, at some point in the year, there is a place worth returning to.