Dominican Culture Ministry Participates in Cuban Book Fair

Dominican Culture Ministry Participates in Cuban Book Fair
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic  2/12/2012

Cuba´s International Book Fair 2012 opened on Thursday under the slogan “To Read is to Grow” with the presence of 14 Caribbean nations, including the Dominican Republic, as guests of honor.

Dominican novelist, Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, will also be at the Book Fair where he will present some of his own books and give a dissertation about literature and Dominican anthropology.

Dominican Minister of Culture, José Rafael Lantigua, presided over the activity along with Cuban Culture Minister, Abel Prieto, Jamaican Culture Minister, Lissa Hanna and the President of the Cuban Institute of Books,  Zuleika Romay, among others. The opening ceremony was held in the San Carlos de la Cabaña Fairgrounds.

The Dominican Republic is taking part in the Book Fair with its lively pavilion which holds a large display of Dominican authors, all for sale, and a program that includes book presentations from various writers. Dominican literary workshop volunteers are working the pavilion. They are part of an exchange program, in existence for several years, with Cubans from the Onelio Jorge Cardoso Literary Center.

Fifteen volumes of the complete work of Max Henríquez Ureña will be put into circulation at the Book Fair. There will also be presentations by the Dominican poet, León Félix Batista, Director of the National Publishing House (Editora Nacional). Visitors will also hear from historian Luis Felipe Céspedes Espinosa from the University of Havana.

Other books will be presented at the Book Fair, including two by Freddy Ginebra, “Antes de que pierda la memoria” and “Celebrando la vida.” Ligia Minaya’s novel, “Mi corazón tiembla en la sombra” and two books of short stories “El callejón de las flores” and “Mujeres de vida alegre” will also be presented.

Pedro Antonio Valdez’s collection of short stories, “Papeles de Astarot” published by Cuba’s Art and Literature Publisher, will be presented. “Leyendas dominicanas” by Eleanor Grimaldi and Margarita Luciano de Sang, published by Cuban publishers, Ediciones Unión, will also be launched. These books will all be introduced by Cuban publisher, Olga Martha Pérez.

Eleanor Grimaldi and Margarita Luciano will be on a panel, “The Same Caribbean for Everyone” to be held in the Children’s Pavilion. Children’s authors from Puerto Rico, Colombia, the United States, Barbados, Curacao and the Dominican Republic will participate in this panel.

Another important activity will be the presentation of the Complete Work of Cuban writer, Eduardo Heras León, published by Ediciones de Cultura.  Dominican Culture Minster, José Rafael Lantigua and Cuban writer, Francisco López Sacha, will present this book.

Dominican novelist, Marcio Veloz Maggiolo, will also be at the Book Fair where he will present some of his own books and give a dissertation about literature and Dominican anthropology.

In addition, there will be viewings of short films, documentaries and movies from the Dominican Republic and other Latin American countries.

The 21^st International Book Fair of Havana, an 11-day event, is offering a vast program that includes some 800 literary, professional, academic and artistic activities, among which are 534 book presentations.  The Book Fair is being held in the outdoor El Morro-La Cabaña Fort. This year’s Book Fair is dedicated to Cuban writers Zoila Lapique Becali and Ambrosio Fornet. The Fair will run until February 19^th.

Dominican novelist, Marcio Veloz Maggiolo.

Audience attending the opening ceremony of the Cuban International Book Fair 2012.

Visitors milling about the Cuban International Book Fair 2012.

Visitors milling about the Cuban International Book Fair 2012.