Book Fairs Are for All Book Lovers

By Aída Bardales -- Críticas, 5/1/2007

I always get very excited whenever another Latin American or Spanish author is “discovered” and published (in English) in the United States. It gives me a lot of pride to share “our” literary tradition with English-language only readers. I feel the same way when an American author is translated into Spanish, but that happens a lot more frequently. In the past couple of years, more and more new translations have been released, including, more recently, Roberto Bolaño’s The Savage Detectives (Los detectives salvajes, Anagrama, 1998). U.S. publishers seem to be more receptive to best-selling works from Spain and Latin America. But unless agents continue to drop manuscripts on a U.S. editor’s desk, editors will have to travel far and wide to find fresh authors and material.

I just got back from the Buenos Aires’s Feria Internacional del Libro (International Book Fair), which took place April 16–May 7. Several U.S. editors of independent houses made it down to negotiate translation rights of still unknown Argentinian authors (unknown in the United States, that is) such as Antonio Di Benedetto and others. These international fairs are an excellent opportunity for U.S. publishers, but, in my opinion, too few know about them and attend.

And, these fairs offer an excellent way to view what’s catching readers’ attention. The Buenos Aires book fair, one of the oldest book event in the Spanish-language book world, starts off with a conference for book professionals and after four days opens up to hundreds of thousands of Argentinians. On the first day alone, when the gates opened at 2 p.m., crowds were gathered at the convention center, pushing and shoving to get in. It was exhilarating! The same thing happens at Guadalajara; tons of people line up for hours hoping to be the first ones in. The thing is, these fairs—while they host book professionals from all over the world— are open to the public and include activities and events for locals. Sure, in the United States we have great book fairs such as the Miami Book Fair, Houston’s Latino Book & Family Festival, the Los Angeles Times Book Fair, and many, many more. But try to imagine what it would be like if after three days of book deals and business, BookExpo America opened up to New Yorkers for a week after! Not only would it be quite profitable, it would be a way of fomenting a passion for reading. After all, the love of books and literature is shared by writers, editors, and “regular people” alike. Why do we exclude the end user from taking part in such a unique event?

If more U.S. editors, publishers, literary agents, etc., visited Latin American book fairs, they’d get to experience that human reaction to books as well. It’s infectious. It reminds me of why I got into the publishing industry to begin with—pure love of books. If, for those of us in the book industry, the ultimate goal is to disseminate literature, whether by writing, editing, or writing about it, then shouldn’t we figure out a way to ensure its success by inspiring future writers and book buyers, by instilling a passion for books and allowing readers to step foot in “heaven on earth” (as a close friend refers to Guadalajara’s book fair).

And talking about the love of books, remember that May is Latino Books Month. This is the fourth time the annual celebration is taking place. The Association of American Publishers declared the occasion in an effort to promote books by and for Latinos, in both English and Spanish, and have published the AAP Latino Recommended Reading List for Latino Book Month.

Aída Bardales
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