The 2024 Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), set to run November 30–December 8, promises to once again be one of the world’s most vibrant celebrations of literature, with some 18,000 publishing professionals from 54 countries expected to attend, in addition to more than 850 authors from 43 countries writing in 19 languages. Among those attending is a significant contingent of American librarians, as well as a growing number of publishers and rights representatives.
While book sales to the public remain at the heart of the fair, the professional program is also central. This year’s FIL will feature a wide-ranging slate of panels and sessions aimed at fostering international connections and promoting cultural exchanges in the publishing and literary worlds, with professionals from more than 2,240 publishers and vendors set to participate. As usual, the fair will also feature an extensive awards program, and the international rights center has sold 120 tables for dealmaking and rights negotiations, reinforcing FIL as the most significant Spanish-language event on the global publishing calendar.
Spanish stars
Among the highlights of this year’s fair, Spain is the guest of honor nation and will host its own track of events. Fair organizers say this year’s Spanish delegations will be the largest for a guest of honor nation in FIL’s history, and will extend the country’s close collaboration with the fair—Spain was its first guest of honor nation in 2000, and in 2025 Barcelona will feature as the guest of honor region, highlighting the role the Catalan capital, home to large publishing houses and literary agencies, has played in promoting Spanish-language literature worldwide.
“One of the pillars of the fair is always the participation of publishing professionals, who enrich the fair with their experience and expertise,” says FIL director Marisol Schulz Manaut, pointing out that Spain’s impressive presence will enable the country to showcase some of its lesser-known publishing houses and bookstores. “The FIL acts as a permanent bridge of communication between Latin America and Spain’s publishing industry."
Notably, this year’s event is also timed with the 85th anniversary of the arrival of thousands of Spanish exiles to Mexico following the Spanish Civil War. “We’re celebrating those exiles, those intellectuals and scientists who made Mexico their own,” Schulz Manaut says, “as well as celebrating the importance of our relationship with Spain’s publishing industry, which has played such an important role in launching the careers of Latin American authors.”
In addition to Spain’s guest of honor program, this year’s fair will feature also a significant presence from other regions, Schulz Manaut notes. Greece and Morocco, for example, are set to have an expanded presence.
Programs
Counting author appearances, the entire FIL program will feature some 3,000 events over nine days. Among the highlights, the Encounter for Independent Booksellers and Publishers, under the theme “Otra Mirada” (another look), will take place at the University of Guadalajara’s Carlos Fuentes bookstore and at the Expo. The three-day event, running from December 1–3, will bring together prominent publishers from Spain and Latin America, including Sandra Ollo from Acantilado publishing house, María Fernanda Paz Castillo of Cataplum Libros, and Paula Barría, founder of the Chilean bookstore and publishing house Metales Pesados, among others.
Continuing its tradition of cultural exploration, the FIL will once again host several recurring events, including this year’s Festival of European Literature (December 2–4), which will feature 11 writers from 10 countries who will discuss the reception of their books in Latin America. Among those set to appear are Romania’s Ioana Pârvulescu, Polish poet and essayist Tomasz Rózycki, and Spanish mystery writer Dolores Redondo.
A Central America–focused forum, dubbed Naming Central America Because Central America Counts (December 3–4), will feature writers from throughout the region. The Destinação Brasil event will again showcase literature from Brazil. And this year’s Poetry Salon will present 26 poets from nine countries, including Mexico’s Jose Ortega and Spain’s Legna Rodríguez Iglesias.
The fair also provides space in the FIL Pensamiento forum for the discussion of cultural and social challenges, featuring “high-profile figures from the arts,” Shulz Manaut says. For example, in a session entitled “We Write in Ink and Chlorophyll” (December 1), authors Yayo Herrero, Luci Romero, and Mariana Matija will explore the representation of nature in literature and discuss current threats to the environment. Other panels will discuss such topics as science fiction written by women, the legacy of Gabriel García Márquez, and adapting Juan Rulfo’s Pedro Páramo for the movies. International topics will also be covered, including Nordic poetry and contemporary Brazilian fiction.
The FIL Niños pavilion (December 1–2), with the theme “Salte de la raya” (jump out of the line), will focus on children’s literature, featuring stands and 15 workshops from 22 publishers hailing from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and Venezuela, all aimed at promoting reading among young audiences.
FILustra, a program for illustrators, will return for its 11th year with a slate of events under the theme of “Reflejos creativos: un camino de ida y vuelta” (creative journeys beyond words). And an expanded comics and graphic novel pavilion will now comprise 55 stands and include workshops on comics creation led by Spanish authors and illustrators Bea Lema, Nadia Hadif, and Núria Tamarit.
Meanwhile, 623 “presentations of new titles”—the Spanish-language equivalent of a book launch, where an author is celebrated by colleagues for their new work—are scheduled at this year’s event. Among the highlights will be presentations for the Spanish-language edition of 2021 Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Desertion, published as El desertor and translated by Rita Da Costa García, and Arantxa Urretabizkaia’s latest novel La última casa.
Prizes
As always, several prestigious awards will be presented during the fair, honoring literary excellence across different categories. Among them, Mozambique’s Mia Couto will receive the $150,000 Romance Languages Prize; Mexican publisher Patricia van Rhijn, founder of children’s publishing house CIDCLI, will be recognized with the FIL Award for Publishing Merit; and the Award for Librarians will go to Jesús Alberto Arellano, who heads the Center for Documentation of Maya Culture at the Universidad Autónoma de Yucatán in Mexico.
Also set to be honored: Mexico’s Ruperta Bautista Vázquez will be awarded the Indigenous Literature of the Americas Award for her poem in the Tzotzil language, while Colombian author Irene Vasco will receive the SM Children’s and YA Literature Award. Hungary’s László Krasznahorkai will receive the Promotion of Literature Award. And the FIL will present its annual Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize for female authors, with the winner to be announced just prior to the fair.
New and trending
Staying current with the latest trends, this year’s fair will feature a forum on artificial intelligence, with a December 3 program featuring experts such as Miguel Híjar Chiapa from the University of Texas at Austin, Yolanda Martínez of GovStack Global, and Javier Pallero from Access Now. The FIL will also introduce a new pavilion this year: the University of Guadalajara pavilion will offer titles published by the university’s press and other academic institutions. And a can’t-miss section of the fair, according to Schulz Manaut, will be the audiobook forum, which will explore developments in this fast-growing sector.
At press time, details for many programs are still being updated. For a final list of participants, consult the FIL website at fil.com.mx/ingles.
Adam Critchley is a reporter in Mexico City.
Read the rest of our Guadalajara International Book Fair 2024 feature:
A Surge in Spanish-Language Audiobooks
Ingram Is Expanding Spanish Language Distribution, and Its Global Reach
