Guatemala and France strengthen their links with literature – Trends

CULTURE |
07/12/2018
22:40

View of one of the stands of the XV International Book Fair in Guatemala City (Guatemala). EFE (Photo: EFE )

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Guatemala, July 12 (EFE) .- With the opening of the books, Guatemala inaugurated today the fifteenth edition of its International Book Fair, an event that has as guest of honor. honor France, a brother country with which they seek to strengthen their links and learn from their literature and their editorial culture.
"The goal is to further strengthen the relations of friendship and cooperation by addressing French culture, which shows a sensible path in which the book is the best par excellence, which builds citizenship and democratizes knowledge." said Raúl Figueroa Sarti, the president of the Association of Guild Editors of Guatemala.
For ten days, from Thursday to Sunday 22, more than 60 cultural expressions of France will be seen in Guatemala: book presentations, literary and professional meetings, round tables, workshops, literary cabarets, film screenings, art exhibitions , documentaries and Music.
And it is that the International Book Fair of Guatemala, popularly known as Filgua, is a "quinceañera" who started his journey in the year 2000 with a slow but sure step, with 64 stands that this year will go to 155 to house bookshops, publishers and institutions are committed to make it a country of readers.
Sarti, a man convinced that this goal is possible, recalled in his speech the links that unite Guatemala and France, countries of great literary tradition and great contribution to universal thought.
These great connections go back, he explained, to the darkest years of Guatemalan history, when the European country became a refuge for creators threatened by the dilemma of dying or migrating; but he also asked to take into account that France has a vigorous publishing industry.
In this year 's edition, dedicated in a special way to the Spanish Jesús Chico García, a man who for decades has allowed Guatemalans to have books from different countries, writers and genres in the hands, there are the largest publishers in the country, but also the smallest.
And besides these book sellers – like a stand that teaches the Koran in 12 different languages ​​- there is a space that does not sell, but that shares the memory. Its creator is Julio Solórzano Foppa, son of Alaíde Foppa (Barcelona, ​​1914), a woman who devoted her life to fighting for what she believed: feminism and revolution.
Thirty-eight years after his death at the hands of the Guatemalan army, his body continues in a no-place, but his legacy is making its way into memory, thanks to his son.
In the Concord Memorial project, where they teach what happened during the 36-year-old civil war that has bled the country, seeks to build "a new society based on society and not to forget," says Solorzano , son of the former president Juan. José Arévalo, in Efe.
This is the second year that they are coming to this event but with a novelty: they will use technology to approach the youngest. To do so, they will present a virtual video Monday to explain what happened with the case of Sepur Zarco, the first to receive a sentence for badual violence during the war.
Filgua – a space where Guatemalans can meet the best of national and foreign literary creation, with the work of intellectuals without ideological or political distinction – also seeks to be a space for debate and dialogue with room for all , the most veteran children.

EFE