Matadero Madrid, a contemporary creation center of the Department of Culture, Tourism, and Sports, joins Casa del Lector to celebrate World Book Day with the event Meet & Read. The shared reading party at Plaza Matadero. The day after tomorrow, Wednesday, April 23, from 7:00 pm to 11:00 pm, young and adults can participate in this celebration of reading in company, with the only requirement of bringing a book.
As stated by the delegate of Culture, Tourism, and Sports, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, this initiative «offers the possibility of turning reading into a social and collective act.» She added, «with this proposal, from the City Council of Madrid, we want to provide a physical space for the community of Madrid readers to enjoy literature on such a special day as World Book Day.»
Four hours of reading and musical celebration
At 7:00 pm on April 23, World Book Day, the access to Plaza Matadero will open for participation in this reading and music session, which will start half an hour later. The spacious outdoor area of Matadero Madrid will be transformed into a cozy place with hammocks and tables, where you can sit with friends or strangers, to read and share reading habits. Those who have registered for free at this link, also available on the websites of Matadero Madrid and Casa del Lector, will be welcomed with the music of Luis Miguel Cobo, who has designed a sound landscape with various atmospheres to accompany the reading and conversation session in its different rhythms and dynamics.
From the beginning of the session, the cultural influencer and booktoker Patricia Fernández will encourage participants to immerse themselves in reading, alternating with moments of conversation and exchange about the texts they have been reading, leading to a dance and toast party that can last until 11:00 pm.
Masters of literary and musical ceremony
Patricia Fernández (1998) is a writer and cultural and social content disseminator. She has focused her life on literature and the defense of human rights. After publishing her first book at 18, I’m not afraid anymore, she founded the Avanza sin miedo association, whose goal is to help children victims of macho violence in Spain. Recognized internationally for this work, she has worked as a journalist in various media outlets. Currently, she is a reference in dissemination, having been awarded the Tik Tok Education Award in 2022 and 2023 as a breakthrough creator.
Luis Miguel Cobo holds a higher degree in Composition, Piano, and Musical Pedagogy from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Madrid. He received the Godot Prize in 2024 for The monster of the gardens, under the direction of Iñaki Rikarte; the Max 2020 Prize for Play, by the Aracaladanza company; the Jerry Goldsmith Golden Award in 2019 for Metamorphosis, directed by David Serrano, and the Max 2018 Prize for Solitudes, by the Kulunka theater company. Cobo has worked for the theater with directors such as Miguel Narros, Natalia Menéndez, Iñaki Rikarte, Luis Luque, Juan C. Fisher, Ernesto Caballero, and David Serrano, among others.
Movies with literature as a backdrop
In parallel to the celebration of this party to enjoy World Book Day, Cineteca Madrid has scheduled three movies with subsequent discussions, on April 22, 23, and 24, at 8:00 pm in the Azcona Hall.
On April 22, the movie A hundred books together (2024) will be screened, with a subsequent discussion with its director, Marga Melià, and the protagonists of the film. After nearly 100 books read together, five retired women decide to spend a weekend together at an inn in the mountains to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the birth of their book club. There, they will evaluate what their meetings have brought them and discuss, as is their custom, about the divine and the human.
On April 23, the chosen film is A free man (Laura Hojman, 2024), with a subsequent discussion led by the film director, writer, and journalist Jesús Pascual, and the cultural journalist Enrique Aparicio. The documentary explores the life and work of Agustín Gómez Arcos, a Spanish exiled writer who achieved great success in French literature in the 1970s, while his name remained silent in Spain. A six-time finalist for the Goncourt Prize, his works, translated into more than 12 languages, addressed themes such as democratic memory and identity. Rediscovered by new generations, his legacy invites reflection on the recent history of our country through silences, lost stories, and the role of culture and memory.
This film proposal concludes with Myocardium (2024), with a subsequent discussion in which its director, José Manuel Carrasco, and the journalist and writer Gerardo Sánchez, director and presenter of Días de Cine, will participate. Pablo (Vito Sanz) is in crisis. One morning when he hits rock bottom, his phone mysteriously rings. It’s Ana (Marina Salas), the girl who broke his heart over 15 years ago. Throughout a day, Pablo will be able to settle scores and finish writing a chapter of his life… or maybe not.
