The director of the Madrid Book Fair, Eva Orúe, announced this Sunday that the 2025 edition of this event will be “illuminated” by New York. “In 2025, New York will illuminate the Book Fair. It fills us with pride and satisfaction,” said Orúe, who revealed that they will also have the participation of the Latin American studies departments of Brown University, Columbia University , from Fordham University, Yale, Cornell, in addition to the help of the Brooklyn Book Fair, Harvard University and Princeton. The collaboration between the two cities arises from a meeting between Orúe and the director of the New York International Book Fair, Deyanira Álvarez. “We met in Guadalajara and she told me ‘we have to talk’. And since then we have done nothing but talk and plot little things,” Orúe said. The president of the New York International Book Fair, José Higuera, participated in the presentation event, and highlighted that the collaboration between Madrid and the American city underlines the “importance of cultural and literary markets” by uniting two cities. “iconic and that reinforce the contemporary historical ties that unite them. “This collaboration provides us with a unique opportunity to celebrate the richness and diversity of our literary traditions, foster an enriching dialogue between all of us who work and enjoy the world of books, writers, writers, narrators, readers, booksellers,” said Higuera. For the 2025 edition, Higuera stated that they will try to design a program that addresses the interests of the different audiences and explained that they will seek to “offer as complete a photograph as possible.” “We want the cultural diversity of our city to be reflected, through the visit of a delegation of writers and artists from the different diasporas who have made life in the Big Apple what it is,” he indicated. MORE THAN 550,000 ATTENDERS AT THE 2024 BOOK FAIR On the other hand, Orúe has made a first final assessment of the attendance data at the Book Fair, which was attended by more than 550,000 visitors in the first ten days, but the Official data will be shared next Thursday, June 20, since the complete numbers for this week are missing. “From May 31 to last Sunday the 9th, we have already received more than 550,000 unique visitors. It must be taken into account that on the 3rd and 6th, weather alerts seriously altered the operation of the fair, and even with all the exhibitors and visitors were here,” he detailed. Eva Orúe has commented that the data has been provided by a study that does not count those under 18 years of age, which is why she believes that “not all of the hundreds or even thousands of children who have come to the fair’s activities are included. “. Furthermore, the director of the Book Fair has stated that half of the visitors to the event do not live in Madrid capital and 14 percent of the attendees are foreigners.
