933 663 198Barcelona, 15 April 2016
Once again this year, Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya has organised several different activities to spread the spirit of Sant Jordi and to promote reading among its customers. Passengers can enjoy a programme of events held at FGC stations and on the trains, where both well-established and novice writers will take centre stage.
FGC has organised these events for Sant Jordi so that the train company can be actively involved in this special day and focus our attention on reading – such a fine way for passengers to pass the time on their train journeys.
Award ceremony for the 4th “Train of Stories” Tweetstory Writing Competition
On Wednesday the 20th at 6.30 pm, the award ceremony will begin for the 4th “Train of Stories” Tweetstory Writing Competition, organised by FGC and the creative writing school of the Ateneu Barcelonès, on FGC’s Twitter account. Followers of @FGC have been able to take part in the competition from 30 March to 17 April.
The event will take place at FGC’s Espai Provença (Provença station, Provença/Balmes entrance hall).
Storytelling
On Wednesday the 20th at 7 pm, professional storytellers will be reading stories at FGC’s Espai Provença.
The storytellers taking part are all members of Anin (the Association of Storytellers), of the International Storytelling Network and of La Casa dels Contes.
During the event, passengers will have the opportunity to join in by telling their own stories.
Bookcrossing event with Abacus Cooperativa
On Thursday 21 April, FGC and Abacus will be holding a bookcrossing event at FGC stations and on the trains. Bookcrossing is about leaving books in public places so that other readers can find them and pick them up, read them and leave them somewhere else for another reader to find and read.
Throughout the day, Abacus will be “setting free” 500 books from a range of literary genres (novels, essays, young adult fiction, etc.), around FGC stations and on trains on the Barcelona-Vallès and Llobregat-Anoia lines. During the course of the day, FGC passengers should keep their eyes wide open to see if they find one of these books, which can be identified by a BCID code. When entered into the website www.abacus.coop/bookcrossing, this code allows the reader to find out who has read the book before them and in which public places it’s been left.
Book signing
On Thursday 21 April at 6.30 pm, the author Núria Esponellà will be signing copies of her latest novel La filla de la neu at FGC’s Espai Provença. This is a story about overcoming challenges, set in the Vall de Núria, that tells of the relationship between an assistant engineer on the Núria rack railway and a ski instructor in the years leading up to the Civil War.
Tasting of local produce
On Thursday 21 April from 12 noon onwards at Espai Provença, the Vall de Núria and Vallter 2000 mountain resorts and the Ripollès Development Agency will be organising a tourism event and farmer’s market with stalls where visitors can try and buy typical produce from the area, sealed with the Productes del Ripollès quality stamp.
In addition, anyone named Jordi or Jordina who comes to the event will be given a voucher for a free return journey on the rack railway up to Vall de Núria on 23 April.
Train naming in homage to writers
On Saturday the 23rd at 11 am, at an event held at Plaça Catalunya station, two series-113 trains will be named after the authors Caterina Albert and Joaquim Carbó.
These two trains will thus join the ranks of the other trains that FGC has named after writers in recent years, such as Maria Aurèlia Capmany, Josep Mª Espinàs, Mercè Rodoreda, Montserrat Roig, Màrius Torres, Elvira Farreras and Carles Salmerón.
Literary snippets on Canal FGC
Over the coming days, Canal FGC will be broadcasting snippets of literature on its screens in stations, selected by the Institute of Catalan Letters.
The week of activities for Sant Jordi is the result of a collaboration between Ferrocarrils de la Generalitat de Catalunya and the Institute of Catalan Letters to implement the “Lletres a Ferrocarrils” (letters on the trains) project that aims to use the train system to disseminate literature. To organise the programme of events, FGC has had the support of the Catalan Department of Culture, the Institute of Catalan Letters and the writing school of the Ateneu Barcelonès.
