Cuba´s 31st International Book Fair 2012 will pay homage to National Poet Nicolás Guillén Batista, considered the top representative of the poetry praising African roots in the Central American region, said the director of the Cuban Book Institute  Zuleika Romay Guerra, during a visit to Ciego de Avila province, on the occasion of the first regional meeting of territorial publishing houses in the Cuban central region.

"The event will be dedicated to the Caribbean culture; for this reason we want to honor our National Poet- the first Cuban  writer to have represented us in this geographical area-, and also mark his 110th birthday next July," said Zuleika Romay.

"We are in the phase of preparations with some books of his authorship on children's literature and repeating editions of his poetic anthologies that have been already published by Letras Cubanas publishing house. This time, the fair will be joined by Casa de Las Americas Center and the publishing house of the University of Havana in association with the Nicolás Guillén Foundation, which will offer a selection of Guillen’s elegies, and essays by several authors on that literary genre related to his work, "Romay said.

Regarding to the territorial network of publishing houses,  Zuleika Romay said that  "the project must be reorganized; more ambitious goals should be drawn up while the publication of outstanding and useful books for the readers should keep going , as it has always happened over the past ten years, so that the event constitutes  a cultural achievement in each province. "

“Along with the promotion of local writers in each province, mainly those young  and unpublished authors, as well as the support of  projects, workshops and several actions related to literature, the  publishing houses should progressively  mirror the social and cultural development  of  each territory,” she said.

The Director of the Cuban Book and Literature Institute highlighted the contribution  to historiography, social sciences and to Cuban culture in different volumes , since they reflect the essence and characteristics of localities, while they would favor the the creation of a digital catalog as a source of bibliography for the future.

"We predict a good future for Literature in Ciego de Avila and other provinces in the central region of the country, since there so many young writers, who have good command of narrative techniques, good published stories, and creativeness. In my opinion, we will continue to have encouraging and good literature and at the same time a kind of literature that pays tribute to tradition, concluded Zuleika Romay War.

A translation by: Silke Paez Carr

!joomlacomment 4.0 Copyright (C) 2009 Compojoom.com . All rights reserved."