DONWLOAD: ACTIVITIES REPORT OF THE FOUNDATIONS 2004-2019

 

Presentation of the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation (Spain) and the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Literature Workshop Foundation for Latin America (Colombia)

For years, my home has been open to any boy or girl who has wanted to see me, tell me about his or her things or interview me for some school project.

And the same applies to young journalist, students, or university graduates with any in- terest in my work. When I was a child, I learnt what loneliness was, and even worse, what having no one that believes in you means. When I started publishing novels I promised I would never turn my back on anybody. I have always kept my word.

This position of mine being known, for years I have been receiving novels and texts by young people from all over Spain. And even if it took me six months because of my work or my trips, I would always read those works and reply to the writers to be. At a given point, I was receiving such an amount of writings that I wrote a novel called Rabia (Rage) (Ediciones SM in Spanish, Cruïlla in Catalan), to sum up those experiences. Since then, all I have to do is ask any young writer to read my novel, since everything I could tell them is there. Nevertheless, I understand this is not enough for many of them. I can see myself at their age in each and every one of them.

When I was a child I had a stutter, and a bad one. When I was eight I went through a glass door and I nearly left an arm there, with my nose and many body scars. In hos- pital, covered in bandages, I could not read, which was my passion, so I started to write and discovered that while I was writing I did not stutter. This was a revelation, and then I decided I wanted to become a writer. That was when pain and suffering started. My father did not want me to do it, he forbade me to write and would shout at me whenever he caught me at it. He used to say “you can- not make a living out of that” and “you will starve”.

On top of everything, at school, apart from being bullied for my stutter, I got the worst possible marks in language and litera- ture because of my excess of fantasy. I decid- ed not to give in and wrote a 500-page novel when I was 12. And when I finished, I was adamant I would become a writer, whether rich or poor, whether famous or not. Writing is more than that. My adolescence was rath- er traumatic in this sense. And, strange as it may seem, after all those years, even now- adays, things have not changed much. On the contrary, in such a materialistic age as ours, the loneliness of an adolescent writer is even greater. They are constantly telling me “my father does not let me write”, or “my fa- ther tells me to study something I can make money with!”, or “my father says I can write as a hobby, but money comes from careers with more working opportunities”. I wonder, isn’t there any father who tells his son or daughter to simply try and be happy? I have always been of the opinion that you have to fight for your dreams. That it is better to earn one euro with pleasure than two in distress. That freedom is essential for life, in the same way as it is to be pleased with yourself and that, in the long run, those who do what they like doing are much richer.

The spirit of the Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foun- dation was born out of all this, some years ago. To start with, as a writer I felt the normal wish to ensure my files would not be lost af- ter my death, and also that those who can now come to my home to do research on my work or on the way I write my novels would still be able to do so in the future. But, at the same time, my idea was to create a study centre, a library for children and youngsters, a conference centre, a school and residence for scholarship holders. Possibly an enor- mous project beyond my possibilities, but the ultimate aim of the Foundation all the same. Naturally, it is private and exclusive- ly financed by me. But we must be trusting. Life is a fight. My motto remains “Everything is possible (if you want it)”.

The Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation was created in Spain with one single purpose: To help young writers out. How? For the mo- ment, with a first step, already in progress, which is a literary award for writers un- der 18, endowed with help from the Santa María Foundation. Apart from the econom- ical prize, the most important thing is that the winner will have his/her work published by Ediciones SM and the fact that the prize will be annually awarded as part of the San- ta María Foundation’s award ceremony, to-gether with other important awards such as Barco de Vapor, Gran Angular and Graphic Illustration. More cannot be asked for. This literary award will make true the dream of many children and youngsters. Once con- solidated, its future will be as intense as we want it to be within our own limits.

However, it would have been unfair on my side to think only of Spain when turn- ing my dreams into reality. I have received so much energy, strength and friendship from Latin America in my constant journeys to the other side of the Atlantic, that soon the Foundation had a double site. I have giv- en wonderful lectures in many countries, I have been invited to fairs and conferences, I have publishers in Ecuador, Chile, Colom- bia, Mexico, etc. Publishing original works in those countries had already been a person- al gift and a way to show my love to them, but creating a double of the Spanish Foun- dation was of course something greater in itself. With the same inspiration, I have cre- ated the Taller de Letras Jordi Sierra i Fab- ra Foundation (Jordi Sierra i Fabra Writing Workshop Foundation) for Latin America in Medellín, Colombia. Both foundations act in- dependently from each other. What is more, the Foundation in Medellín, which started its activities last January, has established much wider deeply-rooted objectives thanks to a managing team made up of well-known pro- fessionals from the Colombian cultural are- na. The Foundation will deliver workshops, conferences, training for teachers and librar- ians… in fact anything to do with literature, particularly children and young readers’ liter- ature, with a focus on helping future genera- tions of young writers.

Any personal project and any initiative, even more if related to this magic world of books we all share, can only be created with desire and energy and with a huge dose of hope. In the short time since news started to spread, I can assure I have received numer- ous demonstrations of support, mainly from colleague writers in this pen trade that, luck- ily, is not subject to the selfishness, strug- gles and envies of the adult literature world, which is so egocentric and loaded with self-complacency. We are working for the same objectives, each one according to his or her own understanding and knowledge: to encourage youngsters to read, and, in this case, to encourage them to write too.

Jordi Sierra i Fabra Foundation is also yours.

© Jordi Sierra i Fabra, 2004

 

The Foundation administrative address is:

c/ Johann Sebastian Bach nº3, 08021 Barcelona, España.
www.sierraifabra.com
Telephone: (34) 93-201-43-64
Mail: fundacio.jsif@ibernet.com

Cultural Center of The Foundation:

c/ Carreras i Candi 80, 08028 Barcelona, España
Phone (34) 93-250-61-83
www.fundaciosierraifabra.com
Mail: fundaciosierraifabra@gmail.com