By Edward Nawotka
The Buenos Aires Book Fair asked their network to vote for “the 50 publishing professionals whose actions and opinions have had the strongest impact on their colleagues over the last years.” Votes came in from all over the world and “an ad hoc committee, which reported to the Professional Section of the Fundación El Libro, which runs the Fair, made the selection. To make the cut “candidates had to be alive and still active in theSpanish-language industry, but could hail from any country. (No surprise, but the list is heavy on Spaniards and Argentines!).
Daniel Divinsky, left, receiving the Cultural Career Award in Buenos Aires earlier this year.
The resulting list of 50 luminaries:
Argentina: Daniel Divinsky (Ediciones de la Flor), Alberto Díaz (Emecé), Alejandro Katz (Katz Editores), Gloria Rodrigué (Edhasa), Guillermo Schavelzon (Schavelzon Agencia Literaria), Jorge Álvarez (Editorial Jorge Álvarez), Leandro de Sagastizábal (Tinta Fresca), Pablo Braun (Filba — Festival de Literatura de Buenos Aires), Ana María Cabanellas (Claridad y Heliasta), Mempo Giardinelli (Fundación Mempo Giardinelli), Nicolás Costa (International Editors), Hernán Casciari (Editorial Orsai).
Chile: José Manuel Zañartu (Editorial Zigzag), Arturo Infante (Cámara Chilena del Libro)
Colombia: Fernando Zapata (Cerlalc), Ana Roda (Biblioteca Nacional), Cristina Fuentes (Hay Festival Cartagena — Colombia/Londres)
Germany: MichiStrausfeld (Editorial Fischer), Marifé Boix García (Feria del Libro de Frankfurt)
México: Ricardo Nudelman (Fondo de Cultura Económica), Christopher Dominguez-Michael (Crítico literario), Consuelo Sáizar (Conaculta), Marcelo Uribe (Era), Tomás Granados Salinas (Fondo de Cultura Económica), Jaime Labastida (Siglo XXI).
Spain: Jaume Vallcorba (Acantilado), Horacio Amorrortu (Amorrortu — España/Argentina), Jorge Herralde (Anagrama), Paco Goyanes (Librería Cálamo), Pilar Reyes (Alfaguara — España/Colombia), Beatriz de Moura (Tusquets), Claudio López Lamadrid (Mondadori), Jacobo Siruela (Atalanta), Juan Cruz Ruiz (El País —crítico literario), Mercedes Casanovas (Agencia Literaria Mercedes Casanova), Ofelia Grande (Siruela), Pedro del Carril (Salamandra), Carmen Balcells (Agencia Carmen Balcells), Antonio María Ávila (Federación de Gremios de Editores de España), Francisco “Paco” Porrúa (Editorial Minotauro), Alberto Borrás (Pre-Textos), Ignacio Echevarría (Crítico literario).
United States: Teresa Mlawer (Lectorum Publications), Adán Griego (Stanford University), Hortensia Calvo (Tulane University), Linda Goodman (The Bilingual Publications), Pedro Huerta (Amazon LatinAmerica), Patricia Arancibia (Barnes & Noble/Nook).
Uruguay: Alvaro Risso (Linardi y Risso), László Erdélyi (El País — crítico literario)
In Memoriam: Isay Klasse