By Alejandra Garcia on February 15, 2024 from Havana
Today, the 32nd Havana International Book Fair, the island’s biggest festival and the most attended event in Cuba, opened its doors, attracting the gaze of literature lovers from the country and the world. From February 15 to 25, 2024, this Wonder City will welcome domestic and international readers, authors, publishers, librarians, and celebrities who seek to experience the unique identity of this fair, which has no comparison with events of this kind in other latitudes.
As it is tradition, the authors will give lectures and interact with their followers. But the event will be much more than that. It will also include music concerts, art exhibitions, poetry readings, entertainment, educational activities for children, plays, film screenings, dance performances, and culinary presentations. It will also feature a highly educated audience eager for books.
“You may not find in Havana all the well-known bestsellers, but you will find the hidden literary talent from Cuba and other countries that you won’t find almost anywhere, the literature of the disadvantaged, the books that make you think, that leave questions inside you and make you hungry for more. That’s what you’ll find at the Havana International Book Fair,” the Cuban Ministry of Foreign Affairs described in a press release.
In this 32nd Fair, more than 1,000 titles -both printed and digital- will be placed in the hands of the public. The President of the Cuban Book Institute, Juan Rodríguez Cabrera, told the local press that among the novelties of this edition are the Reading Classrooms, which will operate throughout the country and will be attended by students and teachers, making it the perfect framework for exchange realities.
More than three million copies will be available to the public throughout Cuba. Digital books may be downloaded free of charge in their presentations.
The Havana book fair is like no other
This year, the Havana Book Festival will have its usual venue at the Morro Cabaña Fortress Park, facing Havana Bay and one of the oldest standing fortresses in the Americas. Other spaces, such as the Cuba Pavilion and some squares in the Historic Center of Old Havana, declared a World Cultural Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1982, will serve as sub-venues for the literary event.
In each edition, the Fair attracts people from all over the world, from Spanish-speaking readers to anyone who shares a passion for books. Traditionally, around 500,000 Cubans and foreigners attend each year.
Another particular feature of the fair is that it chooses each year to honor a country and its literary achievements and honoring some guest authors. Brazil is the guest of honor in the 2024 edition, and it will bring relevant figures such as Frei Betto or Conceição Evaristo, one of the great poets of that country. More than 65 Brazilian authors are participating with over 6,000 books, many of which they will donate to Cuban institutions and communities.
“The Havana Fair is a unique opportunity for foreign publishers, not only for making their editions known to the Cuban public and getting to know Cuban authors and their literature but also to help them get in touch with the work of authors and publishers from dozens of other countries who attend this book festival,” the Ministry added.
Unlike other famous book fairs in other developed cities such as Frankfurt, London, Guadalajara, or Beijing, which are held in sophisticated exhibition halls and conference complexes, “the festive tone of the Havana Book Fair has made it one of the most famous cultural fairs in the world,” it added.
First held in 1982, the fair is usually carried out every year in February. It is divided into ten days in Havana, from February 15 to 25, 2024. Then, it moves to other Cuban provinces to finally conclude in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba on Sunday, March 24.
“This is the commitment of a nation that wants to show the world that, despite the difficulties, its book festival will be a success. I am sure our people will accompany us in this important cultural event,” Juan Rodríguez Cabrera concluded.
Source: Resumen Latinoamericano – English