The 31st edition of theHavana International Book Fair (FILH 2023)will have toColombia as guest country of honor and will take place from February 9 to 19 in two main venues: the San Carlos de la Cabaña fortress and the historic center of the Cuban capital.
The South American country, with which the Cuban government has had a rapprochement after the leftist assumed the presidencyGustavo Petro, will have a central space in one of the most relevant cultural events in the country.
More than 4,200 titles and 4,200,000 copies is the offer of the Cuban Book Institute (ICL) for the FILH 2023, reportedJuan Rodríguez Cabrera, president of that institution, inInterview withCaribbean Link.
“Inclusive reading” will be thecentral theme of the event, with the aim of addressing the “cultural impact of new formats for reading that currently represent an editorial revolution, only comparable to the invention of the printing press,” specified aICL press release.
Dedicated to the excellent bibliographerAraceli García Carranza Bassetti and to the outstanding writerJulio Travieso Serrano, National Literature Prize 2021, the FILH 2023 will honor the notable writerFina García Marruz (1923-2022), recently deceased, and the scientistAntonio Núñez Jiménez (1923-1998), in its centenaries.
Among the planned events are the National Bookseller's Workshop and the Meeting of Editors and Translators, to be held at the Professional Book Fair; and the Cuba Digital Project, in which managers of digital books and other products associated with knowledge will dialogue.
The Meeting of Young Writers of Ibero-America, the Library Scientist, the Poetry Promoters, the Artistic-Literary Program of the Paper Treasure Children's Pavilion, and the Social Sciences and Human Health and Environment colloquiums, as well as the Meeting of Historians These are other activities that will take place during the fair.
Writers, editors, translators, designers, illustrators, distributors, booksellers and librarians will be the protagonists of the days in which the general public will participate, not only in the two main venues, but also in other institutions in the capital that, as custom, they will be subvenues of the event.
The organizing committee intends that from the exhibition, negotiation, marketing and promotion of books and literature, the event becomes an arts fair, by carrying out various artistic and cultural activities.
Posteriorly,The Fair will tour the country in three regions: West (Pinar del Río, Havana, Mayabeque, Artemisa, Matanzas and Isla de la Juventud), from March 2 to 5; Center (Villa Clara, Cienfuegos, Sancti Spíritus, Camagüey and Ciego de Ávila), from March 9 to 12; and Oriente (Las Tunas, Granma, Santiago de Cuba, Holguín and Guantánamo), from March 16 to 19.
The 30th edition of the Havana International Book Fair was held in April 2022, after more than a year of suspension, as a consequence of the severe health crisis caused by COVID-19 on the island.
That version of Cuba's main book and literature festival was dedicated to Mexico, which participated with a large delegation. PresidentAndrés Manuel López Obrador He sent a message of solidarity to the event and shortly after made an official visit to the country.
Despite being massive and having great acceptance, the International Book Faircensorship and limits the participation of writers and intellectuals with positions contrary to the government.
This edition will be no different. This is evidenced by recent statements by the president of the Cuban Book Institute, when he expressed: “Cuba has its culture more alive than ever as a support for the revolution,” making evident the political positioning of the organization of the event.
In the 2019 edition,Independent journalist Roberto de Jesús Quiñones Haces was arrested by the Guantánamo police when he was preparing to travel to Havana to participate in the literary contest.
While the writerKatherine Bisquet Rodríguez, winner of the 2019 Calendar award, was physically attacked after making statements against Decree 349 and expressing his disagreement with the new draft Constitution during a presentation at the Havana Book Fair that year.
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