Crítica Serra d’Or 2024 Award for Short Stories from Lesbos

Àngel Burgas and Ignasi Blanch honoured for the year’s best YA book in Catalan

We are proud to share that the Catalan edition of Short Stories from Lesbos (Els contes de Lesbos), written by Àngel Burgas and illustrated by Ignasi Blanch, has been awarded the Crítica Serra d’Or Prize 2024 in the Young Adult Literature – Best Book category.

This prestigious prize recognises outstanding contributions to Catalan literature and culture. We are thrilled that this powerful and necessary novel — as compelling as it is humane — has received such recognition.

A literary slap in the face of reality

A group of teenagers with no future and a past marked by violence decide to “escape” from the refugee camp where they live. A doctor, committed to their well-being, becomes the key figure in helping them avoid a tragic mistake. Through storytelling — by writing short stories — they find a form of escape, but also a fragile thread of hope.

Àngel Burgas crafts a novel that is at once deeply literary and profoundly urgent. It grabs the reader from the very first line and doesn’t let go. It offers no easy answers, but it speaks directly to young readers who live surrounded by distractions, likes and filters — reminding them of a world where survival is not virtual, and stories are not for entertainment, but for healing.

We at Bambú are proud to have published several titles by Àngel Burgas, including Kaliman in Jericó, Prying Eyes, Ohio, and Short Stories of the Globe. Each one is a novel of undeniable relevance, written with a unique blend of delicacy, empathy, and insight.

Ignasi Blanch’s illustrations accompany the short stories with poetic restraint and emotional depth. Together, Burgas and Blanch offer a bold, beautiful, and necessary book — one that challenges, moves and stays with the reader long after the final page.

We are honoured to share this journey and to see this exceptional work receive such a meaningful accolade.

Congratulations, Àngel and Ignasi!