Guadalajara's FIL Gears Up

By David Unger -- Críticas, 9/1/2004

Now celebrating its 18th anniversary, Guadalajara's Feria Internacional del Libro (FIL), from November 27 to December 5, promises to be well attended. With Catalan culture as its focal point, this year's event will gather over 14,000 book professionals from 38 countries, including more than 700 representatives from the United States including librarians, translators, publishers, and other industry professionals.

Since 1998, FIL has partnered with the American Library Association (ALA) to sponsor U.S. librarians via the "Free Pass" program, which provides three nights' lodging (or six nights if librarians share with a colleague), free registration, and $100 toward airfare for U.S. librarians. This year some 150 librarians will benefit, down from 200 last year. On November 28, 5–7 p.m., the night before the professional activities begin, ALA and FIL will host the annual orientation, where librarians learn about the general activities at the fair and meet distributors, booksellers, and publishers conducting business in the U.S. Spanish-language market. The following gala dinner will be a great opportunity for librarians to meet more experienced colleagues who can help them along the way.

Then it all begins: Librarians will have more than 200,000 titles to choose from on the exhibition floor, from hard-to-get or limited editions by Guatemalan, Bolivian, or Uruguayan publishers to the latest releases by major houses like Tusquets, Anagrama, Random House Mondadori, Planeta, and Fondo de Cultura Económica. This year's publisher lineup also features several U.S. and Canadian companies like Chronicle Books, Trident, Rosen Publishing, Groundwood, Lonely Planet, and Capstone. And Spain's legendary agent, Carmen Balcells, who represents the likes of Gabriel García Márquez, Bryce Echenique, and Mario Vargas Llosa, has reserved 40 square meters of floor space to highlight the work of dozens of her writers.

To help librarians navigate the nearly 20,000 square meters of exhibition space, ALA and FIL have developed a handbook full of bullet-style suggestions. Also, for the third year in a row, FIL will devote a space to the Salón del Libro (Book Room), a display of 2,000 recently published "essential" titles selected by a committee of four veteran ALA librarians from all areas—history, fiction, self-help, children's literature, and different technical fields—that can serve as a sample core list for experts, beginners, and even those who can't make it to the fair. The Salón is of particular importance to first-time visitors to FIL, since it offers an intimate setting to read and browse.

As usual, dozens of established Latin American writers—including Mexico's Elena Poniatowska and Homero Aridjis, Colombia's Alfaguara winner Laura Restrepo, and Chile's Marcela Serrano—will read from their latest works. Visitors won't want to miss appearances by such internationally acclaimed authors as Nobel Prize winner José Saramago or this year's Juan Rulfo prize winner, Juan Goytisolo (see Industry Moves). And to celebrate the centennial of the birth of another Nobel laureate, beloved Chilean poet Pablo Neruda, FIL has organized a special homage featuring fellow countrymen Antonio Skármeta, Gonzalo Rojas, and Jorge Edwards.

With Catalan culture being celebrated, visitors should expect to meet and listen to renowned Catalan authors like Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Nuria Amat, and Quim Monzo and hear nightly performances by Catalonia's leading musical interpreters and performers. And there will be talks and programs underscoring the contributions of Picasso and Miró to the visual arts of the 20th century.

Readings, book signings, art exhibits, concerts, film, and theater—with a dash of tequila and mariachi music—are what FIL is all about. The largest international exhibition of books and periodicals in the Americas is also a dizzying celebration of literature and culture, not to be missed by lovers of the Spanish language.