Madrid will have a literary jaleo this winter
This year, the Jornadas de Animación a la Lectura, Escritura y Observación that are held every summer in Valencia will have a winter edition called JALEO VIAJERO.
This year, the Jornadas de Animación a la Lectura, Escritura y Observación that are held every summer in Valencia will have a winter edition called JALEO VIAJERO at Casa del Lector in Madrid, a reference space for reading mediation in Spain, located in the Centro de Creación Contemporánea Matadero. The headquarters of the Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation will host hundreds of teachers, students, librarians, illustrators, and reading mediators ready to enjoy four days of activities focused on the promotion of reading, art, and culture in childhood.
The Jaleo Viajero event, which once again recovers the virtual transmission for those registered, will be for the first time outside Valencia. «We thought of Madrid because of its geographical proximity, and in February because it is a time of the year with more availability than summer, when many people have their vacations planned,» explain its directors, the writer and poet Mar Benegas and the scenic poet Jesús Ge, who adds, «Just as we did during the pandemic, this year we wanted to include in addition to the face-to-face registration, the virtual format, in order to reach all latitudes and that no one is left out.»
The Jaleo Viajero conference maintains its international character and renews its spaces for reflection with two days – February 22 and 23 – dedicated to the debate on the situation of reading mediation in Ibero-America, virtual tables made up of different Latin American collectives dedicated to the promotion of children’s books. Being aware of the current difficulties to face a registration fee in this foreign currency, the organization decided to offer places free of charge for the members of these institutions.
On February 24 and 25, the program includes interdisciplinary lectures by leading experts in their fields, with two international participants: linguist and essayist Ivonne Bordelois, who will give a lecture from Argentina entitled «The threatened word and the threatening word», and French specialist Joëlle Turin, who will speak on «Great books for the youngest children».
The conference will be opened by author and publisher Emilio Pascual – Lazarillo Prize (1998) and National Prize for Children’s Literature (2000) – with his lecture «Don Quijote. El caballero que murió dos veces». The offer is completed with the writer and member of the Royal Spanish Academy, Paloma Díaz-Mas, and her conference «Romances for wise readers» and with the Librarian of L’ETNO, Museu Valencià d’Etnologia, Amparo Pons Cortell, who will share her project «Espanta la por: reinventar la cultura popular desde las bibliotecas». The scenic touch will be given by the Japanese Yoshi Hioki, with his oral storytelling show for adults «La flor que palpita».
As a noteworthy event, this edition will also feature an illustration workshop for children and adults led by illustrator Concha Pasamar, as well as a live broadcast of the radio program dedicated to children’s literature, Menudo Castillo. «Since its origins, one of the bases of JALEO is to include the family as the third element that constitutes, together with the school and the library, the fundamental triad of reading in childhood» add the organization.»
JALEO VIAJERO is organized by El Sitio de las Palabras together with the General Directorate of Culture and Heritage of the Generalitat Valenciana. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Spain and the Department of Education of the City Council of Valencia and with the collaboration of the Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Foundation, the Valencian Library, the Official College of Librarians and Documentalists of the Valencian Community, CEFIRE of Plurilingualism and the LEOLO bookstore. Registration is currently open, and you can choose to attend in person or virtually at a lower cost.
JALEO is once again one of the unmissable annual events for educators and professionals of children’s books, renewing its proposal to continue growing in the Spanish-speaking world, deepening reflection and critical thinking about literature for children and young people, and upholding the value of reading in childhood as a banner.
