The Tenerife municipality of La Laguna launched a new edition of its Book Fair on Thursday, which will bring together 50 exhibitors and more than 80 authors, and will feature over 200 activities as it aims to serve as a meeting place for readers and industry professionals in the Plaza del Cristo until 12 October.
In addition to the exhibitors, the event will feature meetings with authors who are prominent figures on the current cultural scene, such as Aida González Rossi, Angelo Nestore, Carmen Pallesier, Javier Gil and Lana Corujo, as well as leading figures in Canarian literature such as Alicia Llarena, Cecilia Domínguez Luis and José Miguel Perera.
These will be complemented by other parallel activities such as round-table discussions, talks, book launches, workshops and fun activities aimed at children, as well as spaces dedicated to comics, illustration, poetry, fanzines and other forms of expression linked to contemporary creativity and culture.
La Laguna: Book fair attracts bookshops from Gran Canaria for the first time
According to the town council, this year’s event has seen its highest turnout in the last fifteen years, with a large number of participants, notably including bookshops from Gran Canaria taking part for the first time.
During the opening ceremony, the mayor of the municipality, Luis Yeray Gutiérrez, emphasised that culture «is one of the cornerstones of society» in La Laguna, and so they hope that over the coming days the fair will become a «magnet for thousands of people of all ages», who will be able to meet «their favourite authors, discover new publications» and enjoy the accompanying activities.
Meanwhile, the chair of the Tenerife Booksellers‘ Association, Remedios Sosa, has pointed out that it is «very important» for the trade to take part in this initiative, as they regard it as one of the «most important cultural events of the year».
The 'The Book of Your Life' project collects books that have had a lasting impact
Finally, the programme includes the ‚The Book of Your Life‘ initiative, a project that invites members of the public to share the books that have shaped their personal journeys, through questions about books they remember from their childhood, books they would recommend to a loved one, books they would give as a gift, or books that were with them at a particularly significant moment in their lives.
All of this is aimed at enhancing the personal experience of reading and fostering a sense of participation, reminding us that our connection with books goes beyond the strictly literary sphere, with stories associated with each reading that also form part of our individual and collective memory.
«The book fair in La Laguna, Tenerife, runs until 12 October»
No comments on this article yet.