The 15-M publishing explosion

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http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/05/23/inenglish/1337784945_635135.html


An exhibition to mark the 15-M movement’s first anniversary at Madrid’s Ateneo arts and sciences foundation. / GORKA LEJARCEGI

“We were in a cultural dictatorship and now we are smack in the middle of a cultural revolution,” claims Guillem Martínez, a journalist as well as the author and coordinator of CT o la Cultura de la Transición (or, CT or the Culture of Transition). It’s the latest book spawned by the 15-M protest movement and joins around 20 others that have also jumped on the bandwagon, enough to warrant their own specific table in a major bookstore such as Laie in Barcelona.

It took the Spanish publishing industry little more than a month to respond to the 15-M phenomenon. By June 2011, Las voces del 15-M (or, The voices of 15-M) was the first book to go on the shelves “and one of the ones that got the most word-of-mouth recommendations,” says Martínez.

Just three months later, the protest movement against the political class and its mishandling of the economic crisis had reached comic book format, with titles such as Revolution Complex and Yes, we camp!

Then, the trend appeared to peter out somewhat.

“Things calmed down, and now I’m surprised that there is no first stocktaking being done for the first anniversary,” notes Lluís Morral, of Laie.