Celebrating the importance and phenomenal growth of the Spanish-language and Latino book market in the United States, this year's BEA significantly expanded its coverage of Spanish-language materials and the Latino market. At the show's Spanish Book Pavilion, which hosted 160 publishers from the United States, Spain, Mexico and other Spanish-speaking countries, booksellers got a taste of what promises to be an exciting year, with a number of high-profile titles scheduled to hit the shelves throughout the summer and fall.

Last February, the Association of American Publishers (AAP) declared 2003 the Year of Publishing Latino Voices for America and created a task force to put Latino writers on the map, whether they pen their works in English or Spanish. At BEA, the AAP joined forces with Críticas, the official sponsor of the Spanish Book Pavilion, to organize a series of seminars aimed at promoting Latino authors and educating the publishing world about the makeup of the market for Latino writing. Thus, booksellers not only got to see more books by Latinos but also met the actual authors and their editors in a series of unprecedented events at BEA.

Spanish Titles and Translations

A series of events aimed at booksellers and librarians serving Latino communities became the launching ground for exciting new releases. At the "Spanish and Latin American Buzz Workshop" on Thursday, editors from leading Spanish-language and Latino book publishers sat down with booksellers to describe their upcoming titles and solicit feedback about bookselling trends. Roberto Rivas, exports director at Mexico's Océano, announced the re-release of the Cuban sci-fi best seller by Daína Chaviano, Fábulas de una abuela extraterrestre (Fables of an Extraterrestrial Grandmother), as well as a unique songbook collection of timeless Mexican folk music.

Also on the panel, Marla Norman, sales director of Spain's leading publisher Planeta, began her presentation by confirming an increased interest from publishers and the media for the work of U.S. Latinos. "This is the first year Planeta has the most U.S. Latino authors published," she claimed and then introduced the Spanish-language translations of Rubén Martínez's Crossing Over (Cruzando la frontera), the account of a Mexican family's illegal journey to the United States, and of Carolina García-Aguilera's detective novel Bloody Shame (Venganza sangrienta). But perhaps the most significant release for Planeta this season is the hot-off-the-press Cazador de monos (Monkey Hunting) by acclaimed Cuban-American novelist Cristina García. The multigenerational story of a family descended from a Chinese/Cuban couple, the novel was simultaneously launched in English by Knopf last April. "Definitely, the co-launch with Knopf was a big boost for this title," said Norman. "We've worked closely together to schedule Cristina's tour and to ship books simultaneously. Clearly the collaboration has benefited both versions."

Children's Picks

At this same seminar, Cinco Puntos Press's Lee Byrd introduced Home is Everything, a bilingual photography book for young adults about Latinos in baseball, as well as the bilingual re-illustrated edition of Joe Hayes's The Day it Snowed Tortillas. Although some children's librarians and publishers have spoken against bilingual titles for young readers, Byrd claims that "we're based in the border, so anything bilingual is natural to us," and in fact, her titles have been very successful. The Spanish-language translation of Judy Blume's Double Fudge (Doble fudge, Alfaguara, Oct.) also generated buzz on the floor along with Colombian illustrator and author Ivar da Coll's El día de muertos (Day of the Dead, Lectorum Pub., Aug.).

The upcoming Spanish-language translation of Madonna's debut as children's author, Las rosas inglesas (English Roses, Scholastic, Sept.), attracted booksellers and librarians to the Scholastic booth. Carmen Rivera, trade and library sales manager for Spanish-language distributor Lectorum, also reported hearing buzz of Kate DiCamillo's Gracias a Winn Dixie (Because of Winn Dixie, Lectorum, Sept.) and of Dr. Seuss's ¡Horton escucha a quién! (Horton Hears a Who!, Lectorum, Sept.).

Debuts to Watch

Among the debut novels at the show, Venezuelan native Marisol's The Lady, the Chef, and the Courtesan (HarperRayo, Sept.) was a hot pick. HarperRayo editor René Alegria believes this novel has the perfect ingredients to be a hit among Latinas, as it deals with a modern woman using the time-honored rules, rituals and traditions of her South American ancestors. Marisol read from her book at Saturday's well-attended seminar "Writers on the Verge: Nuevos exponentes de literatura latina" along with first-time authors Felicia Luna Lemus (Trace Elements of Random Tea Parties, FSG, Oct.), Nina Marie Martínez (La Lotería: A Tale in Turns of the Cards, Knopf, Jan. 2004), and Oscar Casares (Brownsville, Back Bay Books). What Night Brings (Curbstone), by Chicana lesbian anthologist and editor Carla Trujillo, was also on the tips of many tongues. Set in 1960s California, this compelling first novel follows 12-year-old Marci Cruz as she deals with her dad's infidelity, her uncle's homosexuality and her own budding lesbianism.

Overall, the work of U.S. Latinos stood out this year. "For a while, publishers only wanted literature that was filled with magical realism, but now they want the U.S. Latino, non-immigrant, non-barrio experience," explained literary agent Leylha Ahuile. This is the experience that journalist Alisa Valdés-Rodríguez unearths in her long-awaited debut novel The Dirty Girls Social Club, which was simultaneously released last May in Spanish by St. Martin's Press under the title El club social de las chicas temerarias. Already a New York Times bestseller, the novel focuses on the lives of six Latina friends—of a variety of ethnicity, skin color and background, but with no foreign accents—who reunite every six months to catch up on each other. For Valdés-Rodríguez, Latino stereotypes are invalid. "Language and culture are not genetic," said the first-time author on Friday during the "Spanish, Latin American, and Latino Author Forum," adding that her mission in the book is to prove that the Latino category does not exist and that stereotyping is an American disease.

Latin American Authors in English

Booksellers were also raving about Gioconda Belli's El país bajo mi piel (The Country Under My Skin, Vintage Español, Oct.), a lush memoir about the Nicaraguan author's inside view of the Sandinista revolution and her struggle to liberate her own heart. Next to Belli at the Friday forum was Mexican author Cristina Rivera Garza, who presented her English-language debut, No One Will See Me Cry (Curbstone), a translation of the novel that won last year's prestigious Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz prize. "I researched the medical records of an asylum in Mexico City to tell the story of the [Mexican] revolution through a neglected voice," she explained, adding that the novel combines reflections about history and language.

Las películas de mi vida (HarperRayo, Oct.), the latest novel by Chilean author Alberto Fuguet, another panelist at the Friday author forum, was also a hot pick, spurred by the simultaneous release of its English translation, The Movies of My Life, the author's big debut in the English market. In this story of a seismologist stranded in L.A. remembering the 50 most important movies of his life, Fuguet ponders the power of American pop culture. Novels like this reflect U.S. publishers' interest in new voices, not just the Spanish classics or magical realism exponents. "[Miguel de] Cervantes, [Gabriel] García Márquez and Carlos Fuentes have been published in English for quite some time now and more mass market and less literary books by Latino authors are finding their way into the market and getting the reader's attention," said Ahuile. "I think writers and publishers have finally listened to another segment of the market."

One of these publishers is Planeta, which has made an effort to provide titles with broad market appeal with selections like Mexican astrologer Andrea Valeria's Un poco más de amor (A Little More Love) and the detective series by García-Aguilera. "I'm particularly thrilled to see so much interest from mass market wholesalers, such as Walmart, Target, Kmart, and Costco," said Norman. "I've felt for a long time that those areas could be strong markets for Spanish books, and it seems that the corporate offices for these groups are finally seeing the same potential."

Spanish Book Pavilion

Most exhibitors at the Spanish Book Pavilion were satisfied with the results of this year's fair and with the efforts by the show's organizers to increase the number of attendees, raise sales and encourage discussion about the state of the industry. Besides the interesting panels and roundtables, this year's initiatives included an outreach program with California librarian and educator associations as well as the Librería Mundial (The Global Bookstore), a market located in a special meeting room off the show floor where pavilion exhibitors sold their titles to offset exhibiting costs. New players in the market included distributors like Publishers Group West, Ingram and Spanish Language Book Services, a good sign of the Spanish-language market's growth.

Still, exhibitors also agreed that more remains to be done. "The pavilion still needs to be promoted more so that the show's public knows about the participating publishers and the presence of international Spanish-language editors," said Océano's Rivas. "I think that it would be very useful to create a database for booksellers and other clients featuring the books exhibited at BEA so that they know who publishes them and who is the publisher's distributor in the United States."