Merida, Yucatan — The annual FILEY book fair will offer more than 1,200 literary activities when it begins March 16 at the Siglo XXI Convention Center and the Gran Museo del Mundo Maya.
The state of Nuevo León will have a special pavilion and Cervantes prize-winner Sergio Ramírez is a special guest at the week-long fair.
The agenda is geared toward readers of all ages. Book presentations, signings, conferences, workshops, concerts, films, theatrical performances and art shows are all part of the itinerary.
The event is anchored by more than 100 exhibitors in the convention center’s main hall.
Argentina-born journalist and intellectual Andrés Oppenheimer is another special international guest.
First-time guests include two television hosts who promote reading: Laura García Arroyo and Eduardo Casar from the television program “La Dichosa Palabra” (“The Happy Word”). Enrique Serna, Bernardo Esquinca, Sofía Segovia, Kirén Miret, Alma Delia Murillo and Alejandro Magallanes are other authors who will make their FILEY debut.
Yucatecans Agustín Monsreal, Sara Poot Herrera, Dulce María Sauri, Carlos Martín Briceño, Sol Ceh Moo, Manuel Iris, Laura Baeza and Jorge Pech are among the writers who will account for the local talent.
The group of national YouTube “booktubers” is headed by Claudia Ramírez Lomelí, Alberto Villarreal, Andrés Mendoza, Valentina and Lewis Rimá.
Héctor Manjarrez will accept the José Emilio Pacheco Excellence in Letters Award, the highest award granted by the Autonomous University of Yucatán.
Also, for the third year in a row, the Peninsular Short Film Award will be awarded at the VI Filey 2019 Cinematographic Encuentro, which will recognize the best local cinematographic work.
Special events include the 11th International Congress of UC Mexicanists, chaired by Dr. Sara Poot Herrera, in which 64 papers by renowned academics and writers will be presented. David Huerta, Margo Glantz, Rosa Beltrán, Carmen Beatriz López Portillo, Beatriz Espejo, Oswaldo Zavala, Michael Schuessler, Gonzalo Navarrete and María Teresa Mézquita will be on hand.
The fifth National Meeting of Cultural Journalism will bring together distinguished representatives from various national media, including Salvadoran journalist Óscar Martínez, who will give a keynote address.
Screenings include “La Camarista,” winner of the Morelia Film Festival; “The Wild Region and Güeros,” presented by screenwriter Gibrán Portela; and “Roma,” the international film sensation nominated for 10 Oscars. Diego Enrique Osorno will introduce the short film “The Brave Only See Death Once.”
The Encuentro de Jóvenes will include writers such as Héctor Manjarrez, Carlos Martín Briceño, Alejandro Zambra and Mónica B. Brozon, who will talk with high school students.
