By Yaimi Ravelo on March 30, 2022
photo: Yaimi Ravelo
Havana, March 30 – The call for the 30th Havana International Book Fair 2022 was made official this afternoon at a press conference at the International Press Center (IPC).
The International Book Fair was postponed from its usual dates due to the epidemiological situation faced by the country caused by the pandemic. This year it is back in full force and will be held from April 20 to 30 in Havana with a special feature compared to previous years, “the capital itself as a province will hold its own book fair during the last four days of the International Fair (from April 27 to 30),” said Juan Rodríguez Cabrera, president of the Cuban Book Institute and of the event’s Organizing Committee, at the beginning of the conference.
“The objective of this International Book Fair coinciding with the provincial Fair is that the Fair reaches the neighborhoods, as part of the effort made by the country because this way the book reaches the families and is a focus of the event’s program. The Fair in that way will be different from previous ones because it will practically cover the entirety of the capital city said Cabrera.
This 30th edition will have as its main venues in La Cabaña and the Historic Center of the city, both of which make up the Fair’s main venue. The Fair will have very important sub-sites and some of them will be added for the first time along with others that are usual to develop the program. Of the 17 sub-sites that will be active in the capital, new sub-sites such as the Technology Park, La Finca de los Monos, Boyeros Agricultural Fair, among others, will be incorporated to this year’s edition.
Rodriguez Cabrera stressed that for this Havana International Book Fair 2022, the public will have at its disposal more than 4 thousand titles and more than 4 million copies of physical books, thanks to the extraordinary effort of the country to produce literary novelties to make this event as pleasant as possible for Cuban families. They will also have the option of accessing more than a thousand ibooks that circulate around the world and they will be able to acquire them during the Fair.
Another distinctive feature of this fair is that for the first time it is dedicated to the same country on a second occasion. In 1998, the fair was dedicated to Mexico and now again in 2022 “we dedicate it to that great country and that great people that has always been like brothers next to the Cuban people”, – said Cabrera.
“We have special reasons for the guest of honor country to be our beloved Mexico because the ship Huasteco transported to Cuba 26 thousand books to develop the fair for sale, to donate to Cuban institutions and the neighborhoods of the capital and other provinces.”
The Mexican Fondo de Cultura Económica Mexicano will have its fair in Havana and a bookstore that will extend beyond the Fair, where Cuban readers will have access to works and authors that would otherwise be impossible, will remain as a symbol of the close friendship between the peoples and governments of Mexico and Cuba.
Later the Fair will travel throughout the country, the books that will be sold in the capital during the international stage will also be present in the fairs of all the provinces. There will be an extensive artistic program with the presence of national and international guests.
Also participating in the press conference were Daimarelys Moreno Roda, director of the Cuban Book Chamber and General Director of the Havana International Book Fair; Nancy Hernández Contreras, vice president of the Cuban Book Institute and General Director of the Fair’s program; Michael González Sánchez, Director of Cultural Heritage of the Office of the Historian of Havana; Alberto Prieto Rozos (guest writer of honor who is being honored at this edition of the Fair); and Mr. Santiago Ruiz Sanchez, in charge of Cultural Affairs of the Embassy of Mexico in Cuba, who expressed, “For Mexico it is a great honor to be guest country for this Fair which promises to be an exceptional.”
The literary event will pay tribute to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Carilda Oliver Labra and Jesús Orta Ruiz (el Indio Naborí), the 120th anniversary of the birth of Nicolás Guillén, and will also be dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the first publication of the poetry book Ismaelillo, by José Martí and the novel Cecilia Valdés o la Loma del Ángel, by Cirilo Villaverde.
To date, 276 foreign guests have been confirmed, 93 exhibitors, of which 60 make up the foreign representation and in total represent 32 countries so far.
According to Daymarelis Moreno Roda, in order to avoid crowds of the public in the activities scheduled for the fair, this event is expected to be multi-spatial and multi-functional, where schedules are conceived for marketing and new physical and virtual spaces of the city are explored, where literature, literary and artistic traditions prevail and above all the authorial movement that will be the protagonist of this event.
The 30th Havana International Book Fair 2022 will be inaugurated on April 20 at 6 p.m. and the public will be admitted the day after the opening of the event. On April 21 will be the cultural gala of the guest of honor country at the Avellaneda Hall of the National Theater at 8:00 pm, where one can appreciate the exquisite Mexican culture through the National Ballet of Mexico and the Mariachis.
The San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress remains as the physical space for this edition of the Havana International Book Fair. The Nicolás Guillén and Dora Alonso halls, the Tesoro de Papel children’s pavilion and the Great Bookstore will remain as one of the main attractions for Cuban families.
The Historic Center will have an important presence in the professional and artistic program where the public will have access to the commercialization of national and foreign books, in addition to enjoying a variety of cultural activities.
Ticket sales for the public will be available starting April 4 at bookstores in the capital, as well as at the Central Computer Palace, the Fayad Jamís bookstore and the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fortress, where tickets will continue to be sold during the event.
Sanitary protocols will be maintained, as well as the mandatory use of face masks, hand disinfection in places of access and in closed places distancing between people will be maintained. The public will be able to access daily information and interact on the website of the Havana International Book Fair.
Source: Cuba en Resumen