José Carlos Alvariño: "Buying a pirate book is an act of corruption" | Culture



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He always comes back to & # 39; Trilce & # 39; of Cesar Vallejo and 'Rayuela & # 39; from Julio Cortázar. "A book also becomes a familiar place, it's like feeling at home," says José Carlos Alvariño President of the Peruvian Book Chamber, which organizes the International Book Fair ] (FIL) of Lima which opens tomorrow. "You have to read for pleasure," says the son of the poet Elvira Ordóñez, from his office, with walls covered by libraries. Without losing the critical voice, he is optimistic and believes that the help to the WIE will continue on the fence of half a million people. We are a book

In 23 years, no president has inaugurated the International Book Fair of Lima?
Never. When the guest of honor was Colombia, Juan Manuel Santos came. When it was Chile, the president of this country came.

A sign of what it is?
Colombia has invested about $ 168 million over the past five years to strengthen its network of national libraries. It has the indicator of books read per capita, which I think are at one point something and want to reach three. There is a national reading plan. There is a conviction that reading leads to progress.

And in Peru, what does this presidential absence tell us?
The system of national libraries is almost non-existent. It is believed that culture is a luxury, when it is a necessity for the progress of people. The fact that a president does not go to the inauguration of the WIE is a sign that reading is not one of his priorities.

Is this also a sign of what happens to ordinary citizens?
In the seventies, there were more bookstores than now, they were close to 200. Today, there are 110 at the national level. Spain has 4,000 public libraries and, more or less, 4,000 bookstores. In the region, we are behind, worse than Ecuador, with Bolivia. However, I think we are on this growth path, but we need laws and start.

Precisely, the tax benefits of the Book Act are about to expire.
This law dates from 2003 and had not only tax benefits, but it's the only thing that has been applied. But there were points like the book fund, which was for acquisitions, libraries, competitions, promotion of writing, research. In the end, the book fund was not allocated resources. Only with the tax benefits will not take away reading in Peru.

But what is at risk now are the benefits.
According to the tax code, one can no longer appeal to the figure of the exemption. We now propose the non-assignment, which is not defined.

In whose hands is the subject?
Everything must go to the Congress, to the Committee on Economy and Culture. We are waiting for the Ministry of Culture to present it. The weather is a little tight, but I think in the next few days it will be presented.

Otherwise, what would happen?
If the benefits are not renewed, on October 12 the books will have to increase between 20% and 25% because a book without VAT is currently being purchased, since it is exempt.

In an interview two years ago, he told me that one-third of the books are pirates. Does this reality persist?
The need to read is in the minds of Peruvians. My thermometer is the book fair, where every year attendance increases and sales increase more than attendance. But hackers fill the need that should be covered by public libraries. Piracy is a criminal act. People have the habit of living in the middle of corruption. The purchase of a pirate book is an act of corruption because it plays the game of crime. The hacker network is "efficient": it has microcommerce and sites in the province. There is also a major piracy in schools, with texts in class and Plan Lector. That is, it is not the school that buys the pirate book, but the parents.

The plan of the reader how are you?
This is an air for publishers. It works because boys now have an offer of literature for children and young people. But you have to refine it, started only with the obligation to read without a clear goal. What is missing is reading for pleasure and not just for the obligation.

After the World Cup, more than 20 books on football have been published. Good signal, no?
Have you ever wondered: how do I read the classics? "Do not read them," I replied. If you like football, look for books on this subject. If you like to knit, look for fabric books. The best book is the one you like the most.

What does FIL propose for this edition, apart from the fact that Spain is the guest country?
The fair is growing, there is a sustained visit of the most remarkable writers.

Vila Matas was expected.
Yes, we tried, but the orders of the day are crossed out. However, we are among the four most important fairs in Latin America. The idea is to have quality guests and to bring the writers that people read. In addition, the fair will be publishers La Independiente Provincial, because the good health of the publishing market is seen in that: the publishers appear outside Lima. We have 900 activities, 100 international guests. There is the Fan FIL, which for S / 50 you buy a pass for each day.

Have you ever managed to adapt to the space that is there?
We are the only fair, laureates of Latin America, who has no state support and who has no permanent site.

In times of corruption and violence, why is it important to give oneself to the book?
In the book, you will not find the answers. But the reasoning mechanisms will be strengthened, your language management. Reading gives you a better understanding of reality. It makes you defend yourself against an aggressor, makes you choose better those who govern. People who progress are those who read.

Autoficha:
– "I was born by chance in Montevideo, Uruguay, in 1961. I had five months because my father had a job there.I have a sister who comes from Lima My father was from Chanchamayo and my mother is from Lima He was 29 years old to my mother.I took my girlfriend 28. I studied industrial engineering, but I do not have a lot of money. have not finished. "

– "I worked in the printing press, I had one for many years, and then I went to work at the San Marcos printing press. I ended up as the director of Ruiz de Montoya's editorial fund My mother is the poet Elvira Ordóñez He is 82. She has instilled in reading and books. "

-" In the Ruiz from Montoya, we wanted to get a book from Martín Adán As Peisa had the rights, I met Germán Coronado, so we started to apply for the presidency of the Peruvian Chamber of Books. most of the ad honorem work in the chamber office, I am the commercial director of Peisa. "

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