A tribute to Gabriel Garcia Marquez will be held at the Madrid Book Fair in Spain, in memory and celebration of Colombia’s most famous author who passed away earlier this year, reported news agency EFE on Monday.
The Madrid Book Fair, now in its 73rd year, is one of the city’s most important cultural events, particularly for lovers of books and literature. Held in Retiro Park from May 30 to June 15, the festival allows the public to discover the latest offerings from the literary world and meet notable authors.
On Sunday, June 8, a reading of Marquez’s most famous novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude, will take place, to honor the Nobel Prize winning author. The critically acclaimed novel has been translated into 30 languages from all over the world.
Since Garcia Marquez passed away in April of this year, there have been a number of memorial events and celebrations of the author’s life.
MORE: Colombian congress proposes to put Gabriel Garcia Marquez on banknotes
On Colombia’s National Language Day, people across the country honored the author by simultaneously reading aloud from his novella “El Coronel no tiene quien le escriba” (No one writes to the Colonel) in a commemoration named “Gabolectura.”
The Ministry of Culture disseminated 15,000 copies of the book to 1,404 public libraries across the country, with the aim for students, writers and people from all walks of life to read Marquez’s work in plazas, public libraries and schools.
MORE: Colombian National Language Day commemorates the late Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The 73rd edition of the Madrid Book Fair will also commemorate the Mexican poet and writer Octavio Paz, who died in 1998, and the Spanish poet Jorge Guillen, by holding several evenings dedicated to their poetry.
According to its website, the fair will consist of 364 booths and 508 exhibitors: 25 government agencies, 10 dealers, 60 specialized booksellers, 61 general booksellers, 218 publishers from Madrid and 134 publishers from outside of the city.
Sources
- Garcia Marquez es homenajeado en la Feria del Libro de Madrid (EFE)
- La historia de Feria Libro Madrid (Feria Libro Madrid)