Guadalajara Book Fair embraces Europe

It has been a laborious process, the content of which will be outlined by the relevant authorities on both sides of the Atlantic, as this fair tries to move forward by bringing together countries or regions each year (this was the fair’s most important fair). literary art of the arab world Thus, they show here the past and future of different approaches to life and literature.

Lagos expressed her joy as a Latin American because as a cultural asset The EU had never accepted such a call.. He believes, and he said so in the presentation of a book containing his ideas for the future of this part of the world (“Latin America’s new solitude”, Interviews with Jorge Castañeda and Héctor Aguilar Camín, Discussion), in this way the secular loneliness revealed by its title can be alleviated.

Exhibition President, raul padillaHe is in contact with European officials to make this extraordinary decision a turning point in the US. new cultural relationship former Europe with the United States.

The now-ending edition of the FIL is the first face-to-face since the pandemic closed its doors three years ago. annual book showIt is considered the largest of its kind in the Spanish world. FIL director Marisol Schultz told us yesterday that the pandemic has not “rooted” activity. As Covid deteriorated in March 2020, trade shows around the world suffered the jolt of the suspension as a turning point in their existence; Those in London, Buenos Aires or Bogotá were suspended. FIL et al., among all “a kind of “Fair Managers Club” They met in Frankfurt, but each month they weighed the possibilities of what had been evidence of disaster for months.

The prison lasted an eternity, which ends exactly now. epidemiologists from the University of Guadalajara (where this FIL comes from) end of crisisand in this way they found the right way in the middle of a darkness they shared with the whole world. Amid uncertainty, they chose to hold virtual fairs and switched to “hybrid”, a combination of physical presence and internet, in 2021. “We were no longer getting three thousand events as usual, but we were getting three hundred very good events for people to follow from home. 28 million people in 81 countries watched us! So we introduced ourselves in countries that didn’t even know we existed.” Also, that year the Prince of Asturias Awards“So it was still a strange and extraordinary year. That’s when we started to be ‘hybrid’, face-to-face and lively”.

And now? “we are stronger We learned a lot. We learned that people love physical contact. Readers love meeting here, meeting writers, hugging them, smiling at each other… The screens are very cold and we have learned that very well already”. According to Marisol Schultz, FIL, “united with thinkers in Mexico and around the world, is a space to reflect on what has happened to us and what will happen. The demand for content is increasing. And one of them will be analysis. the serious chasm we just passed. In this brief glimpse into the future, even activities involving children come into play. This year, children are analyzing the issue of climate change. I am a mother of a four-year-old girl who first came to FIL, and now I have a four-year-old boy and a six-year-old boy, here are my grandchildren. We look forward to coming all year”.

This year of recovery knows the Romanian writer’s presence here Mircea Cartarescu (published in Spanish by Impedimenta), won the annual Elephant award and presented by Nicaraguan Sergio Ramírez (two of them gave impressive speeches, it was the first speech of the author of ‘Adiós muchachos’ in exile…) The Syrian poet Adonis, who was also exiled from his country, was one of the most important representatives of the Arab world, filling the rooms in Guadalajara with his poems and stories about the past and life of the countries that were deemed worthy of this honor.

Awardees José Saramago (for his centennial) and Carlos Fuentes (the death of the Mexican writer who, ten years ago, marked the beginning of the FIL with Gabriel García Márquez); Here, before the crowd, were Elena Poniatowska (“an annual event at the Elephant”) and Rosa Montero presenting her latest book (‘El peligro de estar sane’, Sexis Barral)., He brought together a thousand students and didn’t stop signing (that’s how he feels) as if he were part of the expo and Mexico. “People came, like the vice president of Spain. Yolanda DiazI thought he was extraordinary because of his attitude, what he said, and other politicians like Ricardo Lagos. But we are not a political fair as some would like to see us. Not possible! We have everything here: children, teenagers, adults, scientists… And after some hibernation like bears we are happy with the result but now we are back”.

Now future europe, a continent that must, above all, encapsulate the literary essence of its immense culture in FIL. FIL’s legs tremble with responsibility, but also with joy. At a meeting where Chilean President Lagos congratulated him on this European presence in Guadalajara in the future, this event was “a symbol of the new Latin America be born. Europe and America together, for the symbol of the literatures”.

the spanish look

In 2024, Spain will (again) be the guest country. Eva Orúe, director of the Madrid Book Fair, was here these days to confirm the extent of this challenge. She told this newspaper: “This is the most relevant example of its kind in the world. speak Spanish and second, in the editorial presentation after the one in Frankfurt. Exceptional is his situation. hybrid fair: welcomes book professionals, agents, librarians, distributors or booksellers who do their business here; It also opens up to the general public by scheduling events, tables and discussions with authors of great interest and category. Since it is a fair organized by the University of Guadalajara, it is commendable that hundreds of students who headed and cooperated with the event participated.

His first year at the FIL. Could Spain be a reflection of this history in Europe? Guadalajara Fair? “There are popular and trade fairs in our country, the most relevant of which is Liber in Madrid and sponsored by the Publishers Association, professional… Spanish cultural industry it is of extraordinary importance, a prominent international profession and a significant weight in GDP, and would be in a position to organize a similar event if that were the aim of the players in the sector; but the chosen path was different, so it doesn’t make much sense to set up parallels or competitions”.

This news is now European Union guest country It accelerates the pace of the FIL and, who knows, accelerates Europe’s relationship with the global book industry as an entity. The joy of Lagos is the joy of a famous American who knows the outcome of a solitude in his home country and throughout America, in which the great script of our language, two shores and a third, is written. european coastApproaching the intellectual geography that led to this unusual fair in Guadalajara.