Spanish narrative From the Roma genocide to the Civil War
Paco Goyanes. Cálamo (Zaragoza)
Latin American narrative A language that bets
Paula Vazquez. La Lata Peinada (Barcelona and Madrid)
Translated narrative Strange disappearances
Estrella Garcia. Bookstores Oletvm (Valladolid)
Philosophy Love, feminism, mind and capital
Almudena Amador. Ramon Llull (Valencia)
JAVIRROYO
Economy Tangible and intangible money
Francisco Lemus. Lemus Bookshop (Tenerife)
Biographies and memoirs From Sylvia Plath to Marie Antoinette
Álvaro Muñoz and Cristina Sanmamed. The Tannhäuser Gate (Plasencia)
Poetry True life in the forest clearings
Lola Larumbe. Rafael Alberti Bookshop (Madrid)
History Dynasties for a gruesome past
Antonio Ramirez. La Central (Barcelona/Madrid)
JAVIRROYO
Practice On alert to the dominant discourse
Carlos Acevedo. Finestres Bookshop (Barcelona)
Science A catastrophic world without insects
María José Porras. Picasso Bookshops (Granada)
Childish The witches' bible or no one is perfect
Naia Hernandez. Toad Soup (Bilbao)
Juvenile The difficulty of fitting into the world
Toni Fernandez. Baobab Bookshop (Palma de Mallorca)
JAVIRROYO
Comic The robots in full color and the beasts of Ramon Llull
Aurelio Rodriguez. Joker Bookshop (Bilbao)
Cinema Peter narrator, Quentin critic
Maria Silveyro. Ocho y Medio Libros de Cine (Madrid)
Art The Nazarenes, Sofonisba and Artivism
Anxo Rabuñal. Novaniké Arts & Books (Santiago de Compostela)
Music This is how myths are built
Angel Ardévol. Lenoir Books (Girona)
Photography Africa in danger and Francoist tourism
Sara Fernández Miguélez. La Fábrica (Madrid)
JAVIRROYO
Science and letters
"We are of science and letters" is the motto of the 82nd Madrid Book Fair, which opened its doors on Friday in the Retiro Park, where it will remain until Sunday, June 11.
The sign is a façade. The façade of a house drawn by María Simavilla, who joins a list of poster artists that includes Chema Madoz, Ana Juan, Paula Bonet, Isidro Ferrer, Fernando Vicente, Ena Cardenal or Juan Gatti.
Figures and shadows. 277 publishers, 113 bookstores and 13 distributors occupy the bulk of the booths of the Paseo de Coches, which this year has awnings in a section of the route to mitigate the afternoon sun.
Forbidden to talk about politics. The first fair weekend coincides with the municipal and regional elections of May 28. The presence of politicians in the Retiro is common every year, but the regulations of the fair consider "very serious infraction" that publishers and booksellers make demonstrations of political sign, "either through a promotional activity, printed or visual logo, or posters". So is advocacy of xenophobia, racism and sexism. Speaking of football, the last Saturday of the fair is played the final of the Champions League. This time it will not disturb as much as other years: Real Madrid was eliminated in the semifinals.
Paper rules. Despite living a moment of splendor, the sale of audiobooks is still prohibited. Just like e-books and self-published books. Bookstores are the owners of the fair and defend the format that keeps them alive.
Ibero-American debate. The fair extends beyond the Paseo de Coches and takes its activities to the Eugenio Trías Library, Casa Asia and Casa de América. In the latter, a series of talks will take place on the 29th and 30th in which authors from Spain and Latin America such as Cristina Morales, Alejandro Zambra, Belén Gopegui, Lina Meruane, Carolina Sanín, Arelis Uribe or Federico Falco will participate. Surely there is talk of politics.
Masses and signatures. The cartoonist Francisco Ibáñez will receive this year's Loyalty Award at the fair. Many years his fans queued for hours to get his signature. That prominence is now held by the idols of YouTube and TikTok. These weeks, in addition, Ana Obregón will compete with authors such as Pedro Almodóvar, Bret Easton Ellis or Donna Leon.
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