The island's literary scene is constantly evolving. In recent times, in fact, a new generation of writers has emerged, sharing a number of common threads: born during the 1990s and early 2000s, almost all confess to having written practically since they were born. Many of them have managed to publish thanks to an award, and for all of them, having published has affected their writing in one way or another. Even so, more than one describes the literary sector as not very permeable, or even hermetic, and they don't hesitate to share the doubts and contradictions they experience as part of it in order to reach their readers—although most prefer to discuss all of this either in writing or in WhatsApp audio messages, rather than in person. They have diverse interests and influences, ranging from iconic pieces of recent audiovisual media such as Twin Peaks From classics of world literature, such as José Saramago, Mercè Rodoreda, and Emily Dickinson, to other authors of her generation, from Laura Gost to Sebastià Portell, including Núria Bendicho and Pilar Codony. These are the new voices of Catalan literature emerging from the Balearic Islands.

If someone had told Paleolithic humans that one day we would send messages with yellow faces, the reaction would surely have been one of bewilderment. However, the mechanism itself wouldn't have seemed entirely foreign to them. The paintings of Altamira or Lascaux, with their animals and hunting scenes, weren't texts, but rather a form of visual communication shared within the group. This is, according to some, the oldest antecedent of writing: not because there was a written language, but because there were signs with intentionality. This visual communication became more complex with the first cities of Mesopotamia. Clay tablets were used to record sacks of grain, animals, wages, or taxes. Initially, pictograms were used—that is, signs that represented objects. However, the administration of a state required distinguishing nuances (actions, quantities, functions), and pictograms were transformed into ideograms. The need to go further finally led to the appearance of phonograms, which represented sounds and were an essential step toward being able to write real languages.

In 2019, Natalia Castro (Mahón, 1989), from Menorca, posted a tweet saying that if the world were to end, she would spend it writing a thesis on the apocalypse. And it was precisely during the lockdown the following year that she finished an investigation that has led to... The end-of-the-world partyThe latest winner of the Anagrama Essay Prize, this Princeton University professor reviews the social configuration of the last twenty years in Spain from urban, historical, and cultural perspectives, all permeated by an apocalyptic vision. Eurovegas, the 15M movement, and COVID-19 are explained through the lens of Susan Sontag. Mad Max and the play Bankers vs. Zombies, among others.