Huila, which appears as a special guest department in the 36th edition of FILBo 2024, celebrated this Sunday, April 28, Huilense Literature Day with a multiple agenda, “for the first time in the history of the International Book Fair of Bogotá, the department of Huila is a special guest in it, coinciding with the national and world celebration of the first centenary of publication of La Vorágine, the novel by José Eustasio Rivera from Huila that, between 1924 and 1928, became a literary phenomenon for the national, Latin American and world culture” said the governor of Huila, Rodrigo Villalba Mosquera.
“Huila, Rivera’s birthplace, will share this honorable invitation with Brazil, our brother of jungles and borders, which this year will be the guest country at the Bogotá International Book Fair, and a country with which we share the urgency of ensuring the preservation of nature, of mineral wealth, of its immense rivers, of environmental diversity, that is, of the national and universal heritage that José Eustasio Rivera defended in his press articles, in his parliamentary or public square speeches, and that Finally, he captured it in his brilliant and masterful novel La Vorágine, translated at the time into the most important languages in the world,” added the first leader of the Huilenses.
Within the cultural agenda that began at 10:30 am with the exaltation of the legacy of José Eustasio Rivera in a display of folklore and huilensidad, the chords of the Huila Symphonic Band sounded and the interpretation of the Sanjuanero dance from Huila charge of the Departmental Queen of Bambuco, Mariana Claros Peña and the children’s queen Heirs of Tradition, Salomé Patiño Covaleda.
In the same cultural venue, Leyder Capaz, composer from the Paniquita indigenous community who has set the work of the Huilense author to music, gave an oral narration about La Vorágine. In addition, the event featured presentations by folkloric groups that exalt huilensidad.
More than 1,000 books for sale, the promotion of 12 Neivan authors and 40 regional writers who were chosen thanks to a public call, were also part of the academic and literary agenda of the Fair during this day.
