Che, Havana: the Cuban capital will be the guest of honor of the Book Fair in 2020

Forty-eight hours is what is missing at the 45th edition of the Buenos Aires Book Fair to close its doors. You could not say we were fine, but things happened. We will surely remember this edition of the context of the economic crisis that is shaking all sectors – and this was reflected in the drop in sales – scandals during the inauguration and the unexpected presentation of Cristina Kirchner. But at the Fair there was – natural conjugation is the past – much more.

This year, the guest city was Barcelona. More than 70 referents of culture, among writers, actors, intellectuals, academics, pedagogues, etc. gathered in Buenos Aires: from Pilar Rahola a Jaume Coponsof Martha Escudero a Jordi Puntí and Joan Domenech.

"For us, this has been very important, because a fair so big and that lasts so many days surprises our model," he said yesterday. Marta Clari, Responsible for the culture of Barcelona City Hall, balanced on the stand of Ticmas at the fair. "The opportunity to be here has allowed us to show the diversity of authors, what types of books and what materials they use."

In almost three weeks, over 10,000 people visited the city's booth during the fair. And in purely commercial matters, cooperation and business ties were established between the writers and the editors-in-chief of the two cities.

Yesterday afternoon, during a sober ceremony that nevertheless was able to be moved, Barcelona bid farewell to the Book Fair and hosted it in the guest city of 2020: Havana, capital of Cuba. With the presence of María Teresa Carbano -President of the El Libro Foundation- and Calipher Ocher – Cultural Director of the Book Fair – among other authorities, Marta Clari, as the authority of Barcelona, ​​welcomed the Cuban representatives.

"On November 16, 2019, we will commemorate the 500th anniversary of the founding of the Villa de San Cristóbal in Havana," he said. Tatiana Viera HernandezVice-President of the Provincial Assembly of People's Power of Havana. With this celebration in mind – and with the pendulum on the Latin American side; The fair alternates Latin America and Europe. We understand why the most enlightened city in the Caribbean will be the next guest. "Our proposal is to create together a more beautiful and orderly city, with a disciplined and cultivated people," continued Viera. The invitation to Havana foresees the presence, among other authors, of Leonardo Padura, Wendy Guerra and Pedro Juan Gutiérrez; references to Reinaldo Arenas, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, Ernest Hemingway and further.

In a fair that, in recent times, has been increasingly politicized, the invitation to Havana can not be taken naively. The message that the Foundation is trying to convey still has a year of interpretation: it will be time to look at this city which, as Fito Páez says in "Havana", is the source of so much hatred, love and so much.