More than 500 national and international guests will attend FILBo
Mexico, as a guest of honor, will present an agenda of more than 150 activities with 200 guests at FILBo.
The Bogota International Book Fair returns from April 18 to May 2. The event, organized by the Colombian Book Chamber and Corferias, will be attended by more than 500 national and international guests from 25 countries, authors from Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Italy, Israel, Korea, Mexico, Mozambique, Nigeria, Paraguay, Peru, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, Venezuela, and Vietnam. Mexico, as a guest of honor, will organize more than 150 activities at FILBo.
Some of the international names that join those already announced are the British Richard Firth-Godbehere, researcher and associate member of the Center for the History of Emotions; the American David Wallace-Wells, one of the most prolific voices on climate change; the Nigerian novelist, short-story writer and feminist non-fiction writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie; and the Vietnamese-born novelist and chef from Quebec, nominated for the Alternative Nobel Prize for Literature, Kim Thúy.
Other important voices in the Latin American panorama will also participate, such as the Argentine chronicler Martín Caparrós and the world reference in neuroscience Mariano Sigman; the Chilean journalist, writer, and translator Arelis Uribe; the Ecuadorian novelist Mónica Ojeda; the Mexican writer and filmmaker Guillermo Arriaga and, also from Mexico, Guest of Honor Country, the renowned lecturer Daniel Habif will be at FILBo.
As for children’s and young people’s literature, the Argentinean winner of the Hans Christian Andersen Award María Teresa Andruetto, the Chilean writer Sara
Bertrand, Brazilian illustrator Mariana Massarani, Czech Renáta Fu?íková, multifaceted French artist Benjamin Lacombe and Venezuelan storyteller Jacqueline Goldberg.
Some of the Colombian guests are Juan Miguel Álvarez, Vito Apüshana, Piedad Bonnett, Ana Lucía Caicedo, Santiago Escobar-Jaramillo, Santiago Gamboa, Carlos Granés, Marita Lopera, Oscar Pantoja, Pilar Posada, Pilar Quintana, Carolina Sanín, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Jorge Velosa, and Velia Vidal.
Several of the authors will also participate in the more than 90 events of FILBo Ciudad, which will bring cultural programming to bookstores, libraries, and schools in Bogotá, as well as in FILBo Región, an initiative that will reach Barranquilla, Cali, Cartagena, Cúcuta, Medellín, Pasto, Pereira, and Popayán.
What’s new at FILBo
The 53 thousand square meters of the fairgrounds will be dedicated this year to FILBo. From April 18 to May 2, each of the pavilions will receive a commercial sample of the different publishers, distributors, and bookstores present in the country.
In 2023, FILBo will have 18 program halls where more than 1,800 cultural and academic activities will take place.
This edition of FILBo will present various novelties in the geography of the fair:
- Colombia Pavilion (6, level 2): this space will concentrate on the cultural and publishing offer of our country, with the representation of public institutions and graphic identity for exhibitors, as well as a stage for different cultural displays and a bookstore where Colombian books from different regions will be exhibited for sale. For the first time, there will be a city invited to FILBo: Cali.
- Graphic Narratives (pavilion 8, level 2): in this space will be the publishing offer of comics, graphic novels, and manga.
- Caricature and illustration (pavilion 1, level 2): in this space, shared with Colsubsidio, the best cartoonists in the country will meet to draw live.
- FILBo LIJ Hall: this hall will present activities related to the promotion of children’s and young people’s literature.
Mexican literature, culture, and music come together in FILBo
Mexico, the guest of honor, will bring together great exponents of Mexican literature, music, and graphic arts in the Mexico Pavilion, which was designed with the concept «Roots and encounters: for a future of peace for Our America» and will be a space for dialogue and encounter between cultures.
The Mexican presence will commemorate four fundamental milestones of its culture and history: the 90th anniversary of the Fondo de Cultura Económica, the 100th anniversary of Mexican muralism, the 100th anniversary of the death of Francisco Villa, revolutionary hero, and the 200th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Union, League and Perpetual Confederation between Mexico and Colombia.
The literary program will feature more than 80 renowned personalities in different literary genres and other disciplines, such as Paco Ignacio Taibo II, one of the most important authors of crime novels in Latin America; Juan Villoro, chronicler and literary journalist; Gabriela Jáuregui, Mexican writer, poet, and literary critic; Vivian Mansour, writer of children’s and young people’s literature; and Alejandro Magallanes, artist, poet and designer. In addition, a tribute will be paid to Gabriel García Márquez, Colombian Nobel Prize winner, who lived in Mexico and had a significant influence on the universal literary scene. All the books by the guests and many other authors will be available in two bookstores within the pavilion: one dedicated to the general public and the other to children’s books.
Among the artists in charge of showcasing the country’s musical and cultural richness at FILBo is the Ballet Foklórico de Amalia Hernández, Lucía Pulido with a show of Mexican and Colombian music, the son jarocho group Mono Blanco, who will perform with the Semillero Creativo de Danza; among others. In addition, Mexico will have three visual and plastic arts exhibitions, a Mexican handicrafts show, and a gastronomic bar.
Professional and academic conferences
Between April 19 and 29 will be the 13 Professional Days of FILBo scheduled for 2023, an event for which the fair is internationally recognized. This is a series of activities that cater to all actors in the book chain, publishers, illustrators, proofreaders, translators, etc., in which seminars, lectures, conferences, and the International Business Fair will be held. There will also be a Journalism Encounter, with activities from April 20 to 22.
The Bogota International Book Fair is organized by the Colombian Book Chamber and Corferias and, in its 35th edition, Mexico is the guest of honor, thanks to the Fondo de Cultura Económica, the Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Mexican Ministry of Culture.
Plan and purchase your ticket in advance:
On the official website, under the «box office» banner, visitors can purchase their tickets.
Tickets for the general public:
- The unit value for over 13 years old is $11,000 COP.
- The unit value for children from 6 to 12 years old is $8.500 COP.
- Children under 6 years old can enter free of charge.
Source: Bogota International Book Fair
