Cubarsquo;s 25th International Book Fair is a major publishing event for the country and is destined to become the largest of this yearrsquo;s cultural events.
The fair will take place between February 11 and 21, 2016 and will be dedicated to Uruguay as well as Cuban writers Lina de Feria and Rogelio Martinez Fure, it was recently announced.
It is an honor for Cuba to dedicate the fair to a country so rich in literature," said Zuleika Romay, president of the Cuban Book Institute, when speaking about how more direct contact with the Uruguayan culture could benefit readers. It is also foreseen that the Fair, along with the New Latin American Cinema Festival, will attract the highest number of cultural enthusiasts, as has been seen with the huge number of attendees year after year.
The organizers emphasized that more than thirty countries and some two hundred and fifty writers and thinkers will participate at this huge Cuban literature festival. It was also confirmed that the fair will pay tribute to the writer Jose Soler Puig and the sixtieth anniversary of the landing of the yacht Granma, and mark one hundred and thirty years since the abolition of slavery in Cuba.
In other important book fair news, Uruguayan Foreign Affairs Minister Rodolfo Nin Novoa has announced that the countryrsquo;s President Tabaré Vázquez is set to visit. The diplomat expressed to the media that the Uruguayan people are happy about this celebration.
He also highlighted the ties between the two countries, as demonstrated by Cuban writer and philosopher José Martírsquo;s service as Uruguayan Consul in New York, and he confirmed that a book collating the epistolary works of the Cuban national hero will be published, dedicated to his country.
Significant works by some of Uruguayrsquo;s greatest literary figures, such as Mario Benedetti and Eduardo Galeano, will also be available for fairgoers to enjoy.
In addition to the Fortress of San Carlos de La Cabaña and the Castillo de los Tres Reyes del Morro, which are the traditional venues for the Book Fair, other sites in the city such as the University of Havana, Pabellón Cuba (Cuba Pavillion), the ALBA Cultural House and the Dulce Maria Loynaz Center will host artistic events.
The Cuban Book Institute has also extended the Fair to other provinces of the archipelago to promote reading not only in the capital but in the entire Cuban territory. The 25th Cuban International Book Fair will be like its predecessors an event intrinsic to the Cuban cultural calendar, bringing people closer to the wonderful world of literature.