The Barcelona City Council, through its editorial label, has announced the second edition of the Barcelona Llibres 2026 Co-edition Awards. These awards seek to publish the best unreleased proposals that have the city or its citizens as a reference.
All of this to contribute to expanding and disseminating knowledge about the Catalan capital and strengthening collaboration with the publishing sector and supporting its activity.
Works from private, university, or entity publishers whose purpose is the editing and distribution of books can be submitted, and they do not need to have their registered office in Barcelona. The submission of candidacies is open until July 10.
An edition marked by architecture
In this edition, special consideration will be given to proposals that take into account the Biennial of Thought, an event that this year is reflecting on the future of cities, in a year in which Barcelona is the capital of architecture.
The works, therefore, should include texts from the participants and curators of the Biennial, and from rapporteurs of the conferences or tables of this event, with their own criteria and opinion; or also propose an essay that links the theme of this edition with that of the next. Next year it will deal with the relationship between science and democracy and will be held from February 23 to 28, 2027.
In addition, the proposals must comply with the collections approved by the Council of Editions and Publications and included in the specific rules of the call. You can consult the rules of the call here.
The prize: publishing the work
The awarded works will be co-edited with the City Council through an agreement that regulates the conditions of the co-edition and will include a municipal economic contribution intended to partially finance its production.
The economic contribution from the City Council can never exceed 50% of the budget of each awarded project. This financing percentage will be the same for all awarded legal entities. Each applicant may submit a maximum of three projects and obtain a maximum of two awards. The budget allocation for this year's awards is 160,000 euros.
As many awards as determined by the jury
As many prizes per category will be awarded as determined by the jury, in accordance with the score obtained according to the evaluation criteria established in the specific rules. The jury will be composed of the members of the Editions and Publications Council of the Barcelona City Council.
Last year's awarded works
Last year, in the first edition, the following works were awarded: Les Mil i Una Rumbas: Co-edited with Comanegra publishing house; Pedralbes i el Consell de Cent: Co-edited with Publicacions de l'Abadia de Montserrat publishing house. Eclectic Art and Architecture: Proposal by historians and professors Judith Urbano and Sergio Fuentes, co-edited with Editorial Àmbit.
