The International Book Fair of Havana takes place since February 13 at its traditional headquarters, the Morro-Cabaña Military Historical Park.
More than 1300 new titles, between physical and digital books, and more than two million printed copies, were the figures announced by Juan Rodríguez Cabrera, president of the Cuban Institute of the Book and the Organizing Committee of the appointment.
The most important event of Cuban letters has passed in the midst of adversities. The fair began just in the days when the energy crisis made work and teachers in the country suspended.
Despite all this, the literary appointment is already in its final stretch after a week of actions, among which are those focused on the dedications and tributes that are paid in this edition.
African culture reigns at the fair
South Africa is the guest country of honor of this edition. The election celebrates the 30 years of formal relations of that country with Cuba, and tries to turn the event into a showcase so that the Cuban public has a better look at the culture of that nation.
Although a good part of the program has been focused on the base of the historical link between the two nations, the political and personal closeness that existed between Nelson Mandela and Fidel Castro, the African nation offers in its stand Offers that transcend the literary. “We are very honored to be the guest country of honor of the 33rd edition of the International Book Fair of Havana. [El evento]He has had a great impact on us, since he has allowed us to deepen bilateral relations and has given us the opportunity to bring musicians and 15 writers from South Africa.
“Every morning we have seminars where these authors explain their writing. They have had enough visibility and opportunity to exchange their views with other writers. They have allowed us to share our culture, ”he told Oncuba Yvonne Nkwenkwezi Phosam, Ambassador of South Africa in Cuba.
“I am part of the first delegation of authors of South Africa that visits Cuba at the International Book Fair and I consider myself very privileged to be here and represent my country. It has been a great opportunity to share our stories with the world and that the world shares their own with us, to listen to what other people have to tell, since here are also authors from other countries, ”says Mokotong , South African writer, who has brought to the fair a novel focused on the story of a mother who lost her daughter because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Tribute to those who make Cuban literature
The National History Award (2008) and Social and Humanistic Sciences (2022), a doctor of historical sciences Francisca López Civeira is one of the Cuban authors to which this edition of the Book Fair is dedicated.
“It was a surprise, I did not expect it, but logically it is a reason for joy, because in some way it is a recognition, but above all it gives the possibility of publication of other books and exchange, which seems very important to me. We have been able to be in panels, at events, and then we will also do it throughout Cuba, ”says Civeira.
The teacher and essayist also presided this year the jury of the National Prize for Social and Humanistic Sciences and the Historical Critics Award, respectively, and is one of those who defends the realization of the fair.
“Despite the difficult circumstances of all kinds, I think it is a party that must be maintained. People have access to books, new readings, and this enriches us from the professional and personal point of view. One as a person grows in reading, and of course you also have to know how to select it, because it is not about reading anything either. The book fair starts precisely from that. As Martí said, it is about exercising the criteria to see what kind of books are published.
“[La Feria] It allows people to growth, so it cannot disappear, although it is done more modestly, but it is something that is important for the population. We are helping that personal enrichment, from thought and from training. That cannot be renounced, ”he explains.
That is a criterion shared by Virgilio López Lemus, poet, essayist, editor and translator, the other figure of the Cuban letters to whom the appointment is dedicated this year.
“One writes to be read, and therefore the promotion of reading benefits any writer, but above all, promoting reading benefits the people, the great reader. Sometimes I don’t like the word people because it seems that one is talking about an abstract entity. I would say rather than [la lectura] It benefits my neighbors, my neighborhood, the municipality, the province and La Nación.
“Reading is essential. Enriches not only for the pleasure of reading, but also [es benéfica para] the brain; It makes us think better, that we develop our life better ”
“I am very happy. We have had an intense work program, but I wanted to comply with each of the activities. I don’t know if friends have exaggerated with my person, but it has been very nice to hear the impact of what I have written throughout my life.
I already have a little long life, not too much, because there is no long life, but at least I have dedicated 60 years full to literary creation, and above all I feel like the joy of knowing that I have readers and that what That I am doing is useful, ”says López Lemus, who has more than ten of his titles for sale in this edition. Most of them have been published by provincial publishers, which are also being held in this 33 edition of the Fair.
Territorial editions, first stand
The Territorial Edition System turns 25 years of existence and, although each of the publishers that integrates it has always had a presence at the fair, this time it has been conceived in a different way, precisely to offer them more prominence.
“This year we present a project so that the territorial editions, which always have a space only for commercialization, had a complete stand that has within itself an exhibition area with a selection of the roofs that each province has decided as the most representative, and a presentation room.
It has worked very well, because we have had good public assistance and the possibility that the authors of the provinces are present, which could almost never participate in the presentations of each other, because they coincided at times. This year he has been able to share the entire family of the Territorial Edition System (SET), and also market his books, ”explains Reyna Gretchen Menéndez, coordinator of the stand.
The also director of the East Editorial also considers that “the SET have already ceased to be those provincial publishers. I see it as part of the country’s editorial system, that is, not separate it, do not separate one from the other, because in short the two make up the Cuban literary panorama in terms of the edition and publication of literary works.
For both national and territorial publishers, the main challenges are to venture more in digital publications. There is a lot of variety today in that digital world that we still have to explore. That is one of the main challenges, not because there is paper or polygraphy crisis, because all that we have been in this editorial world for a while we know that crises are transitory, but because there is an audience for that, there is a young audience that is demanding that literature, that way of reading, that we cannot deny today. ”
