Noticias
Strong Mexican presence in book fairs during 2017
January 04, 2018The General Direction of Publications (DGP, for its acronym in Spanish) of the Department of Culture, in its task of disseminating the Mexican publishing offer, participated in four international fairs in 2017 and supported 38 national fairs in different parts of Mexico City as well as in the states of Oaxaca, Veracruz, Guerrero, Tamaulipas and Campeche, among others.
The international fairs in which Mexico participated were: the Angulema International Comics Festival in France; the Frankfurt Book Fair, the International Children's Book Fair in Bologna, and the International Book Fair (FIL) in Lima, Peru, where it was the guest of honor.
The 22nd edition of Lima IBF was held from July 21 to August 6, and the main themes that Mexico addressed with its presence were migration, native languages and the historical relationship between Mexico and Peru. This meeting was attended by a delegation of 35 Mexican authors, reading promoters, illustrators, researchers and journalists and over 10,000 books were exhibited.
The program of activities included a film series of 12 movies on migration, artistic performances, textile and pottery exhibitions, and cultural talks where specialists in original languages participated.
Mexico attended the International Meeting of Publishers and Booksellers and the Second International Forum on Cultural Policies, where the table Peru-Mexico: Cultural Policies about the promotion of reading in indigenous languages, was held.
With the presence of the following writers who attended, they tried to show the literary variety of the country: Alberto Chimal, Guillermo Arriaga, Juan Villoro, Margo Glantz, Paco Ignacio Taibo II, Myriam Moscona, Mónica Lavín, María Baranda, Marco Antonio Campos, José Manuel Mateo, Natalia Toledo, Armando Alanís, Fabio Morábito and authors of Tierra Adentro.
“We looked for a representation of the different genres, so they were novelists, poets, even those who make graphic novels like Bef (Bernardo Fernández). It was a demonstration in Peru of what is being done in Mexico and how it takes advantage of the image and figure of a writer”, explained Marina Núñez Bespalova, head of the General Direction of Publications of the Department of Culture.
Tributes were paid to Juan Rulfo on the centenary of his birth with three tables of analysis of his work, and to Elena Poniatowska for her 85 years of life.
Also, Mexico participated in the Second Meeting of Illustrators with the representation of two important exponents of this specialty: Juan Palomino and Juan Gedovius, and brought a sample of the National Poster Contest Invitemos a leer which came up at the International Children's and Youth Book Fair.
Marina Núñez Bespalova stood out in relation to Mexico’s presence at this fair that the organizers wanted Mexico to address the cultural policies that have been proposed in the country regarding indigenous languages, and the promotion of reading.
She said that they took about 2,500 titles from different publishing funds and there was a good sales report. “Mexico filled every day of the fair, I think we had the opportunity to show the friendly face of the country through all the editorial production and culture around the book”.
“In 17 days we showed the efforts we made not only as a state, but with the support of different institutions, such as UNAM, IBBY, Caniem, confirming that we can work together, pursuing a goal, which in this case was to promote the reading and promotion of the national book”, she said.
Regarding Mexico's presence at the Bologna Children's Book Fair, dedicated to the sale of rights, Núñez Bespalova said that this event is attended almost every year.
“There is a stand that the Department of Culture along with the National Chamber of the Publishing Industry sends so that the different publishers buy and sell their rights, and the Mexican illustrators show their work”.
She said that another great fair attended by professionals was the Frankfurt Book Fair. “A stand is set up and the Caniem gathers the different publishing houses so that this space is used for the purchase and sale of rights.
“The General Direction of Publications has to assure that Mexico is present in the different sites for professionals of the book and has its own space, that is part of the policies that this office has”, said the official and cultural manager.
Concerning the national fairs she highlighted the presence of the Department of Culture in the International Book Fair of the Palacio de Minería, the International Fair of the Zócalo, and the Guadalajara International Book Fair.
“The DGP supported 38 national fairs that are organized by different entities. What we do is support in training, dissemination and sometimes promotion of authors, and we try through Educal to take a sample of the editorial production of the Department of Culture”, she explained.
It is worth mentioning that in the book fairs of Puebla, Hidalgo, Sonora, Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Yucatán, Jalisco and Mexico City, reading centers were set up, where over 450 activities took place, including workshops, oral narratives and reading aloud.
In them, around 65,000 people had access to the nearly 600 titles that made up the collection that was made freely available to visitors to each of these spaces.
The Department of Culture of the Federal Government, in compliance with the National Program for the Promotion of Reading and Books, attended the 31st International Book Fair (FIL) in Guadalajara, held from November 25 to December 3.
A selection of the latest of the editorial catalogue was brought, including a selection of the most recent ones, featuring several little known proposals of literature for children and young people, translated for the first time into Spanish or in a new version, by great classic authors, including a work celebrating the 130th anniversary of Sherlock Holmes's creation.
It was a varied program coordinated by the General Direction of Publications (DGP) and organized jointly with the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH), the National Institute of Indigenous Languages (INALI) and the National Institute of Fine Arts (INBA), which included analysis tables, talks, the awarding of important prizes and a professionalization workshop.
The DGP in collaboration with CONALITEG and the Department of Culture of Jalisco, set up a space at the Guadalajara International Book Fair to learn about the initiatives developed by CONALITEG, and offered a program with workshops in Braille, awareness-raising and approach sessions to the indigenous languages of Mexico, free exploration of books, collective readings, with emphasis on the presence of young authors recently published.
Mexico,Distrito Federal
