From February 15 to 25, 2024 the captivating city of Havana, in Cuba, one of the 7 Wonder´s Cities of the World, will welcome readers, authors, publishers, librarians and celebrities to the XXXII Havana International Book Fair. Considered the largest cultural festival on the island and the event with the highest attendance in Cuba, it is one of the biggest book parties in the World.
The Havana´s fair has an identity that has no other type of fair. Authors hold lectures and interact with fans, but the event is much more than that. It also involves music concerts, art exhibitions, poetry readings, fun, educational activities for children, theatre plays, film screenings, dance performances and food. You will also find a public with a high level of schooling and knowledge eager for books and knowledge, like nowhere or in few parts of the world.
You may not find in Havana all the known bestsellers and the regular books you can find anywhere in the United States or Europe, but you will find Cuba’s and other countries hidden literary talent that you will not find almost anywhere, more of the underdog literature, the books that may you to think, that leave questions inside you and a hunger for more. That’s what you’ll find at the Havana International Book Fair.
That is why the Fair attracts people from all over the world, from Spanish speaking readers to anyone that shares a passion for books and it is traditionally attended every year by around 500 000 Cubans and foreigners.
The XXXI edition in 2023 was atended by 411 representatives from 54 countries and some 120 exhibitors and offered over 4 200 book titles—some 4 million 200 thousand copies of books—as well as about 1 thousand 300 digital books for sale during the event. More than new 400 books were launched during the Fair. The event in 2023 registered the sale of more than 700,000 titles by around 400,000 people.
First held in 1982, the fair is usually conducted every year in February and is spread across ten days in Havana, from February 15 to 25 in the year 2024 and then move to other Cuban provinces to close its doors in the eastern city of Santiago de Cuba on Sunday, March 24.
The book party in Havana will be at its usual main headquarters in the Park Morro Cabaña Fortresses, across the bay from Havana and one of the America’s oldest standing fortresses. Other spaces will be sub–headquarters, like the Pabellón Cuba (Cuba Pavillion) and some squares of the Historical Center of Old Havana (Habana Vieja), declared by UNESCO since 1982 World Cultural Heritage.
Thousands of authors, whether local or international, participate in it and several international publishing houses set up stalls at the fair and promote their books. In terms of participating authors, some of the better-known authors who have been present or honored at the fair include U.S. writer Alice Walker and German playwright Bertolt Brecht.
For foreign publishers, the Havana Fair is a unique opportunity not only to make their editions known to the Cuban public and to get to know the authors and Cuban literature, but also to come into contact with the work of authors and publishers from dozens of other countries that attend this book festival.
Some of the several countries that have participated in the fair in the past include China, Republic of Corea, Russia, United States, Spain, Canada, Mexico, Germany, India, Venezuela, France, Argentina, Algeria, Brazil, Vietnam and the West Indies.
Another particular feature of the fair is that it chooses, every year, to honor a particular country and its literary achievements as well as to honor some guest authors. On 2024 edition Brazil, will be the guest of honor.
Unlike other famous book fairs in other developed cities such as Frankfurt, London, Guadalajara, and Beijing, which are held in high-ceilinged expo halls and sprawling conference complexes, the Havana Book Fair’s festive tenor has made it one of the nation’s most celebrated cultural Affairs and a destination for fiction.
The Rules of Participation for those interested in attending the event can be downloaded from the website: www.filhcuba.cu
For any specialized information, you can contact: Cuban Book Chamber
Address: Calle 15, No. 602, e/ B and C, Vedado, Plaza de la Revolución, Havana, Cuba.
Telephones: (537) 832 -9526 to 29, (537) 832-8829
e-mail: direccion@ccl.cult.cu; subdireccion@ccl.cult.cu; feria@ccl.cult.cu
facebook: filcuba / CámaraCubanadeLibro
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