As part of Sant Jordi's Day and on the occasion of the International Day of Girls in ICT, which will be commemorated next Thursday, April 23, Mireia Cigarrán, winner of the DonaTIC Award in the 'Entrepreneur' category of the 2022 edition, has presented her first literary saga. "The 'Àfrica Blanch' saga is a collection of books for girls and boys from the age of eleven that combines adventure, fantasy, history and science. In addition to having a great time, the saga wants to value curiosity and good questions and encourage people to experience the entire scientific part from the point of view of adventure," explains Cigarrán. For now, the first two published titles are 'Àfrica Blanch and the mystery of lost gravity' and 'Àfrica Blanch and the secret of the pharaoh', although the collection plans to have up to five volumes. "The first book narrates a journey through time to the year 1712, where we meet scientists of the time and we will solve a series of challenges around gravity, Newton's laws and the scientific method. The second book takes us to Egypt, where we meet Hypatia of Alexandria and other brilliant minds of the time and we will use mathematics to solve enigmas," says Cigarrán. With the literary saga 'Àfrica Blanch', Mireia Cigarrán seeks to create a rich and fun universe that shows how science is fun and exciting, and can provide many resources and tools to everyday life.
Mireia Cigarrán is an industrial chemical engineer, founder of the company 'VRPharma', which uses virtual reality to improve people's mental health and emotional well-being during medical procedures, and a writer. "The 'Africa Blanch' saga came about as a result of a question from my daughter. One day, she asked me 'Mom, why do soap bubbles float?'. In fact, this is the question that starts the saga. Also, this literary project is born from my desire to unite science and literature," says Cigarrán. The literary saga 'Africa Blanch' has a female protagonist, Africa, who, in an intelligent and persevering way, solved numerous challenges. "I wanted girls to feel identified. I wanted a protagonist who investigates, who makes mistakes, who falls, who gets up, who is brave, who is sensitive. Promoting scientific disciplines is essential. I think it is a question of equality, but at the same time it is a question of the future, of competitiveness and of innovation", points out Cigarrán. Thus, the literary saga 'Àfrica Blanch' wants to be another resource to bring scientific vocations closer. "It is important to work on references from a young age and, if through a story we manage to awaken curiosity about science and for a girl to imagine herself inside it, we will have done a very important part of the journey. Girls must feel that they are also part of the scientific world, because, otherwise, the future we build will not take into account the point of view of half the population", reflects Cigarrán.
Currently, the literary saga 'Àfrica Blanch' can be obtained through the author's official website .