A large number of literary, cultural and editorial awards are announced and presented every year in Barcelona in recognition of poetry, fiction or plays, as well as translations, publishers, book shops or public figures who help support, promote and publicise local and international literature and culture.
In 1969, the civic and cultural organisation Òmnium Cultural founded the Premi d'Honor de les Lletres Catalanes to be presented to a person who, "for his/her literary or scientific work, written in Catalan, and for the importance and exemplariness of the intellectual work, has made a notable and continued contribution to the cultural life of the Catalan Countries". The award ceremony is held every year at the Palau de la Música Catalana in Barcelona.
The Spanish Association of Literary Critics established these awards in 1956 and they are presented every year to poetry and fiction published over the previous year in the four official languages of Spain. Since 2002, the Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana has been responsible for coordinating the Premios de la Crítica Catalana awards.
Awarded by the book shop Documenta since 1980, and in collaboration with l’Altra Editorial since 2013, the Documenta award for Catalan prose fiction is presented every year to literary prose by an author aged under thirty five. Toni Sala (1996), Sebastià Alzamora and Vicenç Pagès (1998), Pau Vidal (2002) and Alícia Kopf (2015) are some of the award winners.
Since 1993, the Edebé award has been presented every year to two original, unpublished works. One award is given to a child novel aimed at children aged from seven to twelve and another to a juvenile novel for the over thirteens. Winners have included Carlos Ruiz Zafón (1993), Jordi Sierra i Fabra (1994 and 2006), César Mallorquí (1997, 1999, 2002 and 2012), Maite Carranza (2002 and 2010), Andreu Sotorra (2003), Andreu Martín (2005) and Care Santos (2003 and 2015).
Since 2014, Associació Agrupació Dramàtica de Barcelona-ADB and the Provincial Council of Barcelona Institut del Teatre, with the support of Òmnium Cultural, have been presenting the Frederic Roda award. The award is presented to unpublished playscripts written in Catalan.
The SM group has been presenting the Gran Angular award since 1979 in Spanish, and since 1990 in Catalan and as part of the publishing house Cruïlla. The award promotes juvenile works and rewards literary quality. Some of the authors to have received the Gran Angular award are Francesc Sales (1992), Francesc Miralles (2001), Jordi Sierra i Fabra (1981, 1983 and 1991) and José Luís Velasco (1995), among many others. In terms of child literature, the equivalent of the Gran Angular award is the El Vaixell de Vapor award.
Since 1983, the Herralde award has been presented every year to promote Spanish fiction. Javier Marías (1986), Pedro Zarraluki (1994), Roberto Bolaño (1998), Enrique Vila-Matas (2002) and Juan Villoro (2004) are just some of the authors to have received the award.
Since 2001, the Associació d’Escriptors en Llengua Catalana has presented the Jaume Fuster award to a writer in Catalan language for his or her literary career. The award is honorific and association members vote for the winner.
Announced by Òmnium Cultural and presented at the artistic event Nit de Santa Llúcia, the Internacional Joan B. Cendrós award is given to initiatives that have contributed towards the international exposure of the Catalan language, culture or nation. Contributions made by the press, including Catalonia Press (2011), L'Indépendant and Catalan International View (2013), by the journalists Henry de Laguérie (2014, together with the writer Suso del Toro) and Alex Rühle (2015) or by the translator Mary Ann Newman (2016) have been awarded in the past.
Since 1963, the Joaquim Ruyra award has been presented to a novel aimed at readers over the age of fourteen. Presented by the publishing house La Galera with the sponsorship of Fundació Enciclopèdia Catalana, winners include Emili Teixidor (1967), Pep Albanell (1976), Jaume Cabré (1977), Maria Barbal (1984), Josep Lorman (1995 and 1997), Joan Pons (2000) and Alejandro Palomas (2014).
