Juan Rodríguez Cabrera, president of the Cuban Book Institute (ICL), considered the closing of the Havana chapter of the 32nd International Book Fair as just the beginning of the party, considering that the event -which was attended by more than 450,000 people and 435 representatives from 56 countries- will continue its course throughout the Island until March 24.
Rogelio Polanco Fuentes, member of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and head of its Ideological Department; Alpidio Alonso Grau, Minister of Culture, and Jéferson Assumção, director of Books, Reading, Literature and Libraries of the Ministry of Culture of Brazil, presided over the ceremony in which the results of a fair that, according to Rodríguez Cabrera, have not been prevented by the complex circumstances in the world, and especially in our country, were revealed.
More than 2,200 literary and artistic activities, the presentation of more than 800 physical and digital titles, and dozens of concerts, exhibitions, stage performances and film screenings set the tone for the event which, from La Cabaña, was extended to study and work centers and neighborhoods of the capital.
A total of 725,933 copies of physical books were sold, 15,478 more than last year, said Rodriguez Cabrera, and said that the average price of Cuban books was 23.03 pesos, which supports the State's will to continue subsidizing this product. He also said that, for the first time, the offer of books in paper and digital format was present in each stand of Cuban publishers.
He said that the presence of Brazil, guest of honor, will be remembered as a transcendent moment in the relations between the two nations. For his part, Assumção described the fair as beautiful and popular, and congratulated the ICL for managing to put the book in a prominent place in the collective imagination. He said that more than 6,000 books of his country's literature, translated into Spanish, are currently being distributed by the institutions.
The prizes for the modular stands went to the French Alliance, the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Caminos Publishing House, while the winners of the free stands were the Professional Book Fair, followed by the space that sheltered the National Organization of Collective Law Firms. In third place was the Provincial Book Center of Pinar del Río. Also recognized were the Children's projects Tesoro de Papel (Paper Treasure), Nuestra Historia (Our History) and the Academic Research Group on Digital Humanities and Information Sciences of the University of Havana.
