The Mayor of Madrid, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, along with the Delegate of Culture, Tourism and Sports, Marta Rivera de la Cruz, and the Councilor of Retiro, Andrea Levy, accompanied Queen Letizia this morning at the inauguration of the 84th edition of the Madrid Book Fair. Until June 15th, the Retiro Park will host this key event in the Madrid cultural calendar, with the collaboration of the City Council and New York as the guiding theme of its literary program.
For Almeida, the Retiro Park is «the best possible setting to celebrate our culture, to reconnect with books and those who make them possible.» The Mayor encouraged the people of Madrid not to miss «this essential event» and to visit the fair to enjoy literature in a unique environment, as reading continues to be «one of the best ways to take advantage of and enjoy our free time.»
This year’s edition will offer more than 350 activities, including live podcasts, workshops, reading clubs, professional meetings, academic proposals, and tributes to authors such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Federico García Lorca, Carmen Martín Gaite, and Paul Auster. In addition, the exhibition space consists of 365 booths, mostly from specialized and generalist bookstores in Madrid and publishers.
New York, the epicenter of Spanish in the United States and a key stage for international literature, structures a large part of the program in collaboration with the New York City International Book Fair (FILNYC). A proposal that invites reflection on the city as a space of shared links, languages, and memories.
Among the prominent names that will pass through the Retiro pavilions are Eduardo Lago, Kirmen Uribe, Claudia Salazar Jiménez, Lila Zemborain, Mariela Dreyfus, Frances Negrón Montaner, Guillermo Severiche, Ana Diz, Junot Díaz, Vivian Gornick, Teju Cole, Rebecca Solnit, Garth Greenwell, Catherine Lacey, Lucy Sante, Katie Kitamura, and Eliot Weinberger.
The City Council supports its major literary event
The collaboration of the Madrid City Council materializes in an annual grant of 116,000 euros and the provision of spaces such as the Retiro Park, the Cecilio Rodríguez Gardens, and the Casa de Vacas Cultural Center. In addition, in 2020, the Book Fair was recognized as an event of special citizen significance and general interest for the city.
Likewise, a children’s pavilion is planned, for which the City Council provides space at the Eugenio Trías Municipal Public Library. In the mornings, activities aimed at schools have been scheduled, with proposals adapted to different educational levels, including special education. During the afternoons, weekends, and holidays, the pavilion will open its doors to the general public with a cultural offer designed for family enjoyment.
