As the closing of the Bogotá International Book Fair (FilBo), held in Nariño, the moving presentation of the 2023 edition of the Nariño literary work took place “Chambú”, written in 1946 by Guillermo Edmundo Cháveswidely recognized in the department and in Colombia as a social and cultural example of the region.
The event held at the facilities of the Cultural Center of the Banco de la República (Pasto headquarters) demonstrated the hard work carried out for two years by a team of more than 11 people, including writers, designers and diagrammers from Nariño, who, together with relatives of Guillermo Edmundo Cháves, and after a profound process of reading and writing, they bring to light “Chambú”, 78 years after its first edition, in an attempt to rescue the zero circulation of one of Nariño’s most important novels.
“Chambú tells the story of Ernesto, a young man from Pastuso who, throughout the book, will travel through part of the department of Nariño, witnessing the inclemency of the works with which the highway to the coast was opened, but also other events that, “Although today they are relatively forgotten, they had a strong impact on the region,” This is how the work is described.
The triumph of revealing this historical work, which promises to captivate readers with its unique narrative, materialized thanks to the joint effort of Fundacion Qilqay, Editorial Universidad de Nariño, Government of Nariño and Mayor’s Office of Pasto, in addition to a creative team made up of: Augusto Lozada Lince in the style correction; Mateo Guerrero Guerrero in editorial coordination; Suzanne Bioret, Mauricio Cháves, Camilo Muñoz, Sebastián Pinchao and Valeria Obando Zarama, in the writing; Daladier Ernesto Patiño and Julián Andrés Hernández in cover design; Diana Sofia Salas Chalapud and Nathaly Johana Rivadeneira in layout.
“For this edition, Chambú returns as a ghost that, instead of asking for the treatment of a monument, seeks the justice it deserves in passing from hand to hand, in becoming an instrument capable of moving voices while lending itself, equally , for disobedient interpretation and the most excessive intervention. Far from the reverence of things that are not touched, this edition wants to be a tool with which we can listen, in our own bodies, to the forces that go through the time of Chambú”, explains Mateo Guerrero Guerrero, editorial coordinator of ‘Chambú’ 2023.
With the new edition of ‘Chambú’, which goes beyond a simple reprint, the book is given a fresh and modern visionwhich represents a milestone in the dissemination of culture and literature, mainly in Nariño, and undoubtedly throughout Colombia.
The ‘FilBo Nariño Region, Between jungles and verses’ was the perfect opportunity for the people of Nariño to connect with the world of letters, history and literary culture of the region, while celebrating its richness and diversity, it became the perfect setting to reveal ‘Chambu’, a “synthesis of the beauty of the Andean landscape, the heartfelt song to the southern land, to love and anguish, the awakening of America”, Edgar Bastidas Urresti.
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