Thousands of Cubans attend Havana International Book Fair

In a scene now common every year, thousands of Cubans attended the XXVI Havana International Book Fair (FIL) inside the Fortress of San Carlos de La Cabaña.

Entire families spent their Sunday in the various pavilions across the old compound, first built by Spain's King Carlos III between 1763 and 1774.

The fortress has become a yearly gathering for Cuban bookworms, who seek to explore the island's literary novelties every year.

This year, the FIL is dedicated to Cuban intellectual and revolutionary Armando Hart while the guest of honor is Canada, although 46 countries are represented through 198 foreign writers, according the organizing committee.

Canadian literature is on display, with 36 authors representing 18 publishing houses, while the French-speaking province of Quebec has sent a special delegation, led by its Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Francophony, Christine St-Pierre.

Some of Canada's greatest writers, including Margaret Atwood and Graeme Gibson, are in Havana, while the FIL tracks 150 years of Canadian literary history.

The fair is also celebrating the centennial of the birth of Cuban intellectual Salvador Bueno. It is holding a commemoration of Gabriel Garcia Marquez and a panel on the novel as a literary genre made up of Latin American critics and researchers.

Young readers will not be left aside as a seminar will be devoted to literature for children and young people, while a panel will bring together young writers from across Latin America and the Caribbean.

The FIL, since its inception in 1982, has grown to become a highlight of the Cuban cultural calendar, with a program devoted to numerous facets of the arts, including ballet, music, theatre, cinema, plastic arts and even the circus. Enditem