Buenos Aires and Lisbon have more than one thing in common. To begin with, both cities share the proliferation of bookstores, the presence of the port, the proximity of the Atlantic and the beauty of the jacaranda tree. The Lisbon stand, the guest city of the 48th edition of the Buenos Aires Book Fair, is no stranger to this coincidence. The violet of the jacarandas and the blue of the Atlantic are the colors that predominate in the Portuguese area of La Rural.
“It is a great pleasure that the city of Lisbon is the guest of honor at the Buenos Aires Book Fair, one of the most important in the world. We strive to bring the best of our country, the highlights of our literature and the most representative of Lisbon. “We work hard to be a source of inspiration for writers and readers,” he told Time the Minister of Culture of Lisbon, Diego Moura.
Furthermore, he added: “This delegation that Lisbon has brought is made up of notable writers, with wide recognition, but emerging authors have also come. “We brought new talents so that they are known beyond Portugal.”
The Portuguese delegation that arrived at the Book Fair is extremely diverse: it includes cartoonists and cartoonists; Renowned authors with a vast career, as well as emerging ones; writers specialized in children’s and youth literature; and researchers dedicated to Fernando Pessoa.
Among the most prominent names of the new Portuguese narrative are Yara Nakahanda Monteiro, Bruno Vieira Amaral and Afonso Reis Cabral.
On the other hand, there is a very strong commitment to Portuguese illustration in the programming. “In general, the comic genre does not circulate in the same spaces as other genres, such as the novel and the essay. The fact that we emphasize this genre becomes something unique and peculiar; “It is part of what Portuguese culture has to offer readers.”
“We seek to revalue illustration and give it a central space, because historically it has had a more relegated role in fairs throughout the world,” he says. The illustrators Alex Gozblau, Ana Biscaia, André Carrilho, André Ruivo, António Jorge Gonçalves, Catarina Gomes, Catarina Sobral and Cátia Vidinhas, among many others, will be present.”
“The municipality of Lisbon has a history of supporting comics,” adds Rute Mendes, project coordinator. And, indeed, the cultural wealth of the city confirms this: it has an outstanding “Bedeteca” (specific library for comics), which houses an extensive collection and constitutes a unique space to immerse yourself in the universe of comics.
Lisbon and what the Fair makes possible beyond the Fair
Within the framework of the Fair, Lisbon officials hold a series of meetings with their Argentine counterparts, and with cultural and educational institutions, such as the University of Buenos Aires, the Mariano Moreno National Library and the Library of Congress, among others.
“Although the social contexts are different, the challenges that cities have are generally the same. Therefore, it is important to make exchanges about the different strategies to solve these challenges, as well as the different programs that are created to meet the needs of the cultural sector and the public in particular, says Moura.
And agega: “Our focus is on serving communities and readers. The promotion of reading is especially necessary in the most vulnerable social and economic contexts. At the same time, these exchanges that we are having in the context of the fair allow us to think about collaborative projects in the future, not only focused on the field of books, but also on other areas of culture.”
Discussions are currently taking place between the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Lisbon to establish a joint work agreement for the future. In addition, at the end of the fair the launch of a translation line of Portuguese authors into River Plate Spanish will be announced. This launch will be possible thanks to a program from the Camões Institute that finances the translation of Portuguese authors into foreign languages.
“We will give preference to Argentine translators and publishers as a result of our presence here at the Buenos Aires Book Fair,” says Mendes.
The complete program of Lisbon at the Book Fair can be seen here Lisbon City Inspiration — Paple de carta (el-libro.org.ar)
