The event, which runs until tomorrow at El Laguito del Círculo Militar, in the west of the capital, aims to analyze the realities of publishing in Latin America and design new strategies.
On this first day, participants reflected on reading for young people, on the similarities that unite them more than their differences, and on how to develop strategies that help solve the problems that exist in the region today.
Addressing the issue of reading among young people, the Venezuelan Vice Minister for Cultural Industry Development and President of the National Book Center, Raúl Cazal, considered it “a guess” that they do not read, which is why he asked editors to analyze what some consider it a difficulty.
In his opinion, books are likely to be produced for people who have no interest in reading, causing some reading promotion plans to fail, he said.
Cazal commented on the impact of the saga of fantastic novels by the British writer JK Rowling, which, as he said, “made all the boys read” and many of them began to read this literature.
The intellectual of Uruguayan origin addressed the issue of digital books, emphasizing that they do not compete with paper books but rather serve to promote them, and suggested that the meeting celebrate the negative and positive experiences of the current publishing world.
“If we don’t have readers, we won’t have writers,” the deputy minister said, according to a press release.
The director of the Mirabilia Libros publishing house and the Colombian Chamber of Independent Publishers, which brings together 76 publishers, recognized that “we have more similarities than differences” and convinced everyone to help each other solve common problems across Latin America.
Also this Friday, the conversation “A new history of the nation is possible” took place in El Laguito, in which the main panelists were the Minister of Culture of Venezuela, Ernesto Villegas, and the head of the Department of Cultures, Arts and Knowledge of Colombia, Juan David Correa.
The Colombian scientist and writer Weilder Guerra also took part.
Filven 2023 runs until November 19th with a wide editorial offering and the celebration of more than 600 activities promoting books, reading and cultural activities.
oda/jcd