literature | Wander Argentina

Feria del Libro: Buenos Aires International Book Fair

The words ‘Book Fair’ have the potential to conjure up images of elementary schoolyards with tables of used paperbacks underneath kitschy tents.

Whatever mental representation arises, it is completely deceptive when it comes to Buenos Aires ‘Feria International del Libro.’

This annual celebration of the literary universe and its purveyors is the Spanish-speaking world’s largest book fair.

Inside the 45,000 square meters of Palermo’s Argentine Rural Society unfolds a city of books with author signings, conferences, discussions and lectures.

The book fair has flourished since its founding in 1975 – today it hosts over 1.2 million visitors and 1,500 expositors from 50 countries. Book readings and special presentations take place in La Rural’s ten different auditoriums.

Spanning three weeks every autumn, the event is sponsored by La Fundación el Libro (The Book Foundation), a non-profit founded by the Argentine Society of Writers.

Cultural Events and Controversial Writers

Cultural events include a poetry festival, a storytelling marathon, an interactive area for youth, and a party with games and live shows.

Previous additions have hosted writers such as Paul Auster, Ray Bradbury, Tom Wolfe, Susan Sontag, and Muhammad Yunus.

Jorge Luis Borges at the Buenos Aires Feria de Libros in the 1970s — Jorge Luis Borges surrounded by Fernando Duelo Cavero, María Esther de Miguel, Eduardo Gudiño Kieffer, María Esther Vázquez, and Roberto Castiglioni at the Buenos Aires International Book Fair in the 1970s. Courtesy, Fundación de Libro.

Argentina’s most renowned contemporary authors also attend. Before their deaths, participants included Jorge Luis Borges, Ernesto Sabato, Silvina Bullrich and Tomás Eloy Martínez.

In recent years, Buenos Aires’ largest cultural event has also inadvertently been the center of some newsworthy incidents.

In 2010 Cuban dissident, Hilda Molina was interrupted by pro-Castro activists chanting, “Cuba yes! Yankees no!” before she was able to make a presentation of her autobiography, Mi Verdad (My Truth). The police intervened and Molina quickly exited. A shouting match ensued and a member of the public took the microphone and told the protestors to “go to Cuba if they loved Castro so much.”

In 2011 a public outcry emerged when the anti-Kirchner Nobel prize winner, Mario Vargas Llosa was invited to inaugurate the fair. The controversy played out in the daily newspapers until President Fernández de Kirchner stepped in herself to ask her supporters to withdrawal their protests. Llosa returned in 2016.

Yearly Themes: Future Zone

Each year the Feria del Libro has a unique theme. The 2012 theme, ‘The Future of Books’ featured a popular digital space where visitors were able to sample e-readers and purchase electronic books – a practice that is still warming to most Argentines.

2013’s theme was ‘Libros como Puentes’ or ‘Books as Bridges’. If the theme is a bit recondite, it shed light on a new development at the Feria del Libro: a city as an honored invitee.

In 2016 book fair continued with the development of literature and technology with the ‘Future Zone’ a space to discover the new esthetics, tendencies and technology in literature with nearly 300 writers, film makers, visual artists, musicians and journalists participating.

The Feria del Libro’s first invited city was Amsterdam and although a principal section of the book fair was dubbed ‘Cafe Amsterdam’ — it did not resemble the aromatic cafes of the famous liberal city. Instead, activities are sponsored by the guest city. The Feria’s 42nd edition featured Santiago de Compestela as the invited city, with 25 guest writers such as Manuel Rivas, Domingo Villar, Xavier Queipo, and María Solar. This year’s guest city is Montevideo, right next door in neighboring Uruguay.

Among the authors attending this year are Yasmina Reza, Paul Auster, Mario Vargas Llosa, John M. Coetzee, Juan Villoro, Dan Wells, María Dueñas, Elvira Sastre and Richard Ford.

Ex-president and current provincial senator Cristina Kirchner appeared at the 2019 book fair to present her new book ‘Sinceramente‘ (Sincerely).

The controversial appearance had undertones of a campaign bid to run for President (again). In her speech, she criticized Argentina’s current government and praised U.S. president Donald Trump for lowering unemployment by creating more factory jobs. This meant one more kerfuffle for the Feria del Libro as Kirchner supporters surrounded and harassed a journalist working for one of Argentina’s major dailies.

When To Go

The best time to visit the Feria del Libro in order to avoid the crowds and comfortable browse is during the week. Toward the end of the festival visitors can get great deals on books from vendors who want to unload their stock before going back home.

—Alana Fichman

Feria International del Libro de Buenos Aires
April 23 — May 13 2019
Argentine Rural Society
Santa Fe 4201
or Sarmiento 2704 (parking)

Palermo

Hours:

◦ The 2019 Feria del Libro takes place from April 23 until May 13:

◦ Mondays through Fridays 2 p.m. until 10 p.m.

◦ Saturdays & Sundays 1 p.m until 10 p.m.

Tickets:

• Can be purchased at the venue

Mon-Thur – AR$

Fri, Sat, Sun & Holidays –AR$$

Children under 12 free

Getting there:

Subway: Plaza Italia stop, line ‘D’

Buses: 10, 12, 15, 21, 29, 34, 36, 37, 39, 41, 55, 57, 59, 60, 67, 68, 93, 95, 111, 118, 160, 161, 188, 197

Buenos Aires: City of Books

Buenos Aires is the birthplace of many a prominent writer, but it takes a visit to fully unveil the enduring love of reading in South America’s city of books.

Godfather of Argentine literature, Jorge Luis Borges famously said, “Let others pride themselves about how many pages they have written; I’d rather boast about the ones I’ve read.”

And read is what the Argentines do — on the bus, in the park, and in the myriad bookstores that are as plentiful as pharmacies and supermarkets in the capital city.

WA-bookcapital-chickreading — photos: Hernan Jourdan

And literary sustenance for the soul in Buenos Aires is not limited to an insubstantial diet of romance novels and bestsellers — though those can certainly be found — but consists largely of dense literary and philosophical works of the likes of Foucault, Nietzsche, Arendt, Shakespeare, Joyce, as well as the Argentine heavy-weights — Borges, Julio Cortázar, Ernesto Ernesto Sábato and José Hernández.

It is impossible to meander through the Buenos Aires without noticing the abundance of bookworms.

“Just look around on the subway and count how many people have a book,” says Florencia Basile, of La Porteña Books in Belgrano. “From ages 20 to 60, people read a lot here — there is a culture of reading.”

Buenos Aires’ Main ‘Book Streets’

Wrapped in plastic to discourage sneak previews and summer rains, tomes grace the shelves of street side dispensaries, subway station kiosks of all the metro lines, and some of the grandest bookstores in the world, such as the opulent former theater, El Ateneo.

One testament to Buenos Aires’ love of literature can be find right in the heart of Palermo, at Plaza Italia. Right outside the Plaza Italia subway stop visitors can find 40+ stalls of new and second-hand books to take on the train, because reading a book on public transport is much safer and cooler than playing on your cellphone.

Corrientes Avenue, the main thoroughfare of Buenos Aires’ theater district, is a also favored destination for late-night book browsing. Where else in the world can one peruse the shelves at 3:00 a.m.?

Latin American’s Literary City

Argentina leads Latin America in publishing, with over 20,000 titles released in the country per year. Buenos Aires is blessed with over 800 bookstores, the majority of them independently owned.

In 2011 UNESCO awarded Buenos Aires the title of ‘World Book Capital,’ in recognition of its many high quality projects and activities involving books and reading.

The high point of these world-class programs is the yearly Feria Internacional del Libro de Buenos Aires (The International Book Fair) held from mid-April to early May.

For those already so inclined, embrace and enjoy wandering the aisles of books and the streets of ready-made benches. For all others, let the Latin American bookworm bite and take a taste of the sumptuous, if old-fashioned, world of paper and print.

• For those who don’t read Spanish, or need a break from second language overload, a modest selection of imported foreign titles are found scattered in kiosks and bookstores, and a few all-English bookstores, such as Kel and Walrus Books.

• Even if you don’t read Spanish, you don’t’ want to miss Buenos Aires’ most famous bookstore, set in an old theater, El Ateneo.

→ Check out our Literary Tour of Buenos Aires

or book the Buenos Aires Private Literary Tour online now

— Alana Fichman

Walrus Books — An English Bookstore in San Telmo

Many a traveler has arrived at their hostel or bed and breakfast and almost immediately gone to scour the shelves of the book exchange, yearning for a Marquez, Allende or Borges (you are in South America, after all). Instead of wallowing in your disappointment at the sorry selection of crumbling paperbacks you find along the way, step through the door of Walrus bookshop in San Telmo, a veritable mini-mecca for English-speaking travelers and residents craving a decent read.

This cozy shop is crammed with 4,000 new and used books including Argentine classics in English and popular paperbacks that have been left in the wake of countless English-reading travelers.

A mish-mash of non-fiction titles includes history, philosophy, religion, art and even reference books. Bring in the book you just finished to receive a modest discount towards your purchase. Prices are reasonable, and the owners, Geoffrey Hickman and Josefina Sánchez, an American-Argentine couple provide friendly customer service in order to help you find that one book that will turn that 20-hour bus ride from hell into a journey of literary bliss.

Walrus Books
Estados Unidos 617
San Telmo

• Hours: Tue–Sun 12:00— 8:00 p.m.
Tel: 4300-7135