Organized by the Government of Entre Ríos together with the Municipality of Concordia, it will take place from September 4 to 6 at the Convention Center of that city. There will be 60 publishing stands, more than 50 special activities, programming for schools, workshops, lectures, and shows. All with free admission.
"It is a milestone and a huge political decision by the Government of Entre Ríos and Governor Rogelio Frigerio to anchor public state policy on two axes that go hand in hand, which are education and culture. There is no one without the other," noted the Minister of Government and Labor of Entre Ríos, Manuel Troncoso, this Tuesday at the presentation, and added: "In every corner of our province there is a cultural expression, a heart that beats because culture is linked to the popular sentiment and the spirit of a people."
Troncoso highlighted that Concordia is the latent example of everything it can be and is not. "We are trying to banish that inertia of dispossession, decay, and the culture of poverty," he said and concluded: "The first provincial Book Fair has to do with that: with elevating public policy, with generating reach and meaning, with encouraging the private sector to also generate wealth, and with the State being an arbiter and guarantor."
PILLARS
For his part, Mayor Francisco Azcué remarked that it is an honor for Concordia to host the Provincial Book Fair. "Education and culture are pillars of our administration because they allow for growth without depending eternally on the State, and this fair is an opportunity for the community to elevate itself, have a critical perspective, and take ownership of a space that belongs to it."
The Secretary of Culture of Entre Ríos, Julián Stoppello, stated that the focus of the event will be "letters and culture from Entre Ríos, with an opening towards the region, with the objective of promoting access to reading and making the province's publishers and authors visible."
Meanwhile, the Undersecretary of Culture and Education of Concordia, Carlos Gatto, valued the "joint work with the municipality of Salto, Uruguay, through its mayor, Carlos Albisu, to add a river and cultural route between both cities."
OUTSTANDING PERSONALITIES AND ATTRACTIONS
Some of the authors who will participate in the Fair are: María Teresa Andruetto, Carlos Skliar, Guillermo Martínez, Marcelo Birmajer, Tute, and La Cope. Writers from Entre Ríos will also have their space, such as Paula Arriola, Martin Acevedo, Esteban Michel, Sebastián González, Fernando Belottini, Marcelo Leites, Martín Carlomagno, Felipe Hourcade, Alfredo Vidal, and Gonzalo Acosta, among others. In addition to everything that will take place at the Convention Center, the Fair will travel through the streets and the landscape of the coast with the Bus and the Literary Ship, two initiatives that aim to spread access to reading and the promotion of authors.
The presentation was attended by, among other authorities, National Deputy Nancy Ballejos; Provincial Deputy Marcelo López; council members, municipal officials, the Secretary of Culture of Salto, Uruguay, Pablo Bonet, as well as participating publishers; Silvio Previale, for the Academias Previale Cultural Center of Salto; and Ernesto Silva, from Librería 33.