Black Barcelona 2011 - Crime Novel Week

If Catalans or Spaniards talk about "black" novels or literature ("novel·la / literatura negra") they do not have dark-skinned authors in mind, nor do they think about gothic or more sinistre stuff - it's only crime novels they have in mind.
And to celebrate this genre, a specialized bookstore in the picturesque, seafront Barceloneta quarter (literally "small Barcelona") called "Negra y criminal" (you get the idea) a few years ago started a crime literature festival that awards the Pepe Carvalho Prize to an outstanding crime novelist.
This year it will be held from January 31 to February 5, and there will be all kinds of book presentations and roundtable discussions on various aspects of crime literature from around the world.
One of the highlights will surely be a talk with Swedish author Mari Jungstedt on Thursday, Feb. 3, at 4 pm at La Capella (Carrer de l’Hospital, 56) in Barcelona.

The organizers of BCNegra 2011 have these proposals:

More than 50 crime authors and specialists from, among other places, Barcelona, Sweden, Germany, the Basque Country, Florence, Trieste, Marseille.

Six days and more than 30 events, such as talks, roundtables, readings, movies, exhibitions, workshops, and gastronomy - all with a reference to the crime novel.

26 publishers participating: Alba, Algaida, Almuzara, Alreves, Ariel, Columna, Ediciones B, Debate, Debolsillo, Destino, Duomo, Edebé, Empúries, Erein Argilatxea, Grijalbo, Maeva, La Magrana, Martínez Roca, Planeta, Mondadori, Pàmies, RBA, Roca Editorial, Seix Barral, Siruela i Viceversa.

Andreu Martín, this year's winner of the Pepe Carvalho Prize will be honored on Feb. 3 at the celebration hall "Saló de Cent" of Barcelona's townhall.

Gastronomy in "black": crime novel dishes and cocktails. For the first time, the gastronomic world will fully enter BCNegra. 6 restaurants and 9 cocktail bars invite to taste their creations inspired by crime novel authors or personalities.

A talk with judge Baltasar Garzón, former public prosecutor José Maria Mena and journalist José Martí about organized crime and the political and economic powers.

We will discover the "Kriminalroman", the crime novel that comes from Germany, with the help of two famous authors from that country: Zoran Drvenkar and Volker Kutscher [I have never even heard their names]; and we will get to know why there is so much lethal crime in Sweden, with Mari Jungstedt and José Luis Correa.

Sinister historic Barcelona will also have its space at BCNegar with a roundtable that brings the audience nearer to the assassinations and intrigues of late 19th century and early 20th century Barcelona.

The author Manuel Vázquez Montalbán will be honored in a double way: there will be a series of crime movies dedicated to Pepe Carvalho at the Filmoteca de Catalunya, and we will study the journalistic work of the writer.

Red Dani with "Confessions of a gangster from Barcelona" through his experiences will show us the criminal Barcelona of the Sixties and Seventies.

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You find the full program at "Negra y Criminal"'s blog, i.e. here.