On Madrid’s Preciados Street, low levels of consumer traffic during coronavirus outbreak concerns on October 3. Image – iStockphoto: JJ Farquitectos
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
Festival Eñe and Otra Mirada
Two Spanish-language programs are being adapted next week to digital efforts in advance of the Spain Guest of Honor program for Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022. Both the Otra Mirada (Another View) initiative and Festival Eñe would have been held in Madrid.
Festival Eñe, which has had an annual edition since 2009, has the optimistic theme “Dystopia is Dead. Long Live Utopia” this year and is scheduled to have events between Monday (November 16) and November 21. Because of the coming guest of honor year for Spain, German literature will have special highlights at the festival.
And Otra Mirada, created by the Librería Cálamo of Zaragoza, is themed on dialogue between independent booksellers and publishers from Spain and Latin America. Past venues for the event have included Aragoza, Guadalajara, Antigua, and Bogotá. As in the case of Festival Eñe, German colleagues are involved this year on the run-up to 2022.
The German Foreign Office is making the project possible, with access being free of charge, and you can learn more about these efforts here.
- Register for the Festival Eñe program here.
- Register for Otra Mirada here. Below are some programming highlights.
‘Otra Mirada’ Announced Programming
International Literary Agencies in dialogue
November 17
3 p.m. CET / 1400 GMT
“Literature agencies as bridges between authors and publishers play an important, mostly invisible, role in the book market worldwide. How to introduce and defend new topics that do not correspond to the literary mainstream? What can the literature produced in Spain and Latin America offer differently?”
- Bernat Fiol, SalmaiaLit Agencia Literaria, Barcelona
- Andrea Montejo, Indent Literary Agency, New York
- Nicole Witt, Literarische Agentur MertinWitt, Frankfurt
- Moderator: Sergio Vila-Sanjuán. journalist, Barcelona
The Picture Book: By No Means An Easy Genre
November 17
4:15 p.m. CET / 1315 GMT
“What characterizes the picture book produced in Spain (and Latin America) and in the German-speaking world? Can one speak of a common picture language or are there cultural boundaries? How do young readers of children’s books from other linguistic regions see the cultural enrichment of the book? How high is their acceptance in the respective other language or cultural region?”
- Lara Meana, Librería El Bosque de la Maga Colibrí, Gijón
- Raquel Garrido, Editorial Apila, Zaragoza
- Mariela Nagle, Librería Mundo Azul, Berlin
- Paula Peretti, Peretti Literarische Agentur, Cologne
Bookshops: Networks, Local Commerce, Community, and Expertise
November 18
3 p.m. CET / 1400 GMT
“What is the current situation of independent bookstores in Spain and Germany (also with regard to the experiences during the pandemic)? What strategies are there for them to remain competitive in online retailing? During the spring lockdown phase in Germany there were cooperations between large bookstore chains and independent, local bookstores. Do these cooperation efforts still exist? What is the attitude of the respective public institutions to protect the independent book trade?”
- Maite Aragón, Caótica Librería, Sevilla
- Enrique Pascual Pons, Marcial Pons Librerías, Madrid
- Ana S. Pareja, La Bartleby & Co., Berlin
The Diversity of the Independent Publishing House, Part 1
November 18
4:15 p.m. CET / 1315 GMT
“What distinguishes Spanish and German independent publishers? Why are there so many independent publishers in Spain and Latin America? What is the situation in Germany? What is the percentage of translations compared to national literature?”
- Luis Solano, Libros del Asteroide, Barcelona
- Valeria Bergalli, Minúscula Editorial, Barcelona
- Simon Lörsch, Suhrkamp Verlag, Berlin
- Piero Salabè, Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich
The Diversity of the Independent Publishing House, Part 2
November 19
3 p.m. CET / 1400 GMT
“What does the European and Latin American market mean for Spanish and German independent publishers? What does it mean for an independent publisher to specialize in genres like short stories, theater or comics? How do other business models work, such as membership in a book club? What is the current situation of independent publishing (effects of the pandemic)? Is there institutional protection?”
- Juan Casamayor, Editorial Páginas de Espuma, Madrid
- Carlos Rodríguez, Ediciones La Uña Rota, Segovia
- Corinna Santa-Cruz, Büchergilde Gutenberg, Frankfurt
What Do We Read? Why Do We Read?
November 19
4:15 p.m. CET / 1315 GMT
“What makes up the German and Spanish readership? Who of what is setting the guidelines? How do publishers reach their readers? Do German readers have generalizations about literature created in Spain and Latin America? What are the challenges that Spanish publishers face in 2022 to break the generalities and bring new and unknown literature to German readers?”
- Silvia Sesé, Anagrama Editorial, Barcelona
- Valeria Ciampi, Alianza Editorial, Madrid
- Linus Guggenheimer, Verlag Klaus Wagenbach, Berlin
- Heinrich von Berenberg, Berenberg Verlag, Berlin
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurter Buchmesse and its programs is here, more on the Spanish market is here, more from us on Spanish-language interests in world publishing is here, more on the German market is here, and more on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here.