The European Union (EU) will be the Guest of Honour at the 37th year of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL), to be held from 25 November to 3 December 2023. The theme of the Guest of Honour, “Building a Union of Cultures”, pays tribute to cultural diversity in the broadest sense of the word. The event will open a new room for intercultural dialogue and mutual inspiration in book culture, aimed at strengthening EU Member States’ relations with Mexico and the whole Latin American and Caribbean regions. The EU will present its great cultural wealth and diversity of languages in Mexico.
The Czech Republic will participate in the hosting programme with 4 authors, 2 translators and 7 representatives of the literary market. The national presentation has been prepared by the Moravian Library in Brno (MZK) and one of its sections, the Czech Literary Centre (CzechLit), on the behalf of the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic. The Czech Centre in Madrid, the representation of CzechTourism in Latin America and the Franz Kafka Society have also helped to make the Czech presentation possible. The participation of the Czech delegation in Guadalajara has been organisationally supported by the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Mexico and the Honorary Consulate of the Czech Republic in Guadalajara.
The Programme Coordinator of the Czech representation, Martin Krafl, Head of CzechLit, and his team have been working closely with the hosting curator, Patricio Jeretic, for 13 months. “With the financial support of the EU (approx. 20 %) and the Ministry of Culture (approx. 80 %), we are bringing exciting figures from our book world to Mexico with a varied literary programme that is sure to arouse the interest of the Fair’s visitors” says Martin Krafl. He believes that “the networking of the Fair will contribute to sharing know-how as well as new ideas for the future and sustainability of the European literary scene”.
Literary programme during the Fair
Markéta Pilátová, author of books for both children and adults, Sylva Fischerová, poet and fiction writer, Jitka Bret Srbová, poet, and Jáchym Topol, writer, will present their work in Spanish and English translation in Guadalajara. Many translators have taken part in the translation of their literary works. Some will come to Mexico and join debates and the professional programme: Elena Buixaderas and Daniel Ordóñez.
Czech writers and translators from Czech who will represent the Czech Republic at the fair in Guadalajara.
Markéta Pilátová will present the Spanish translation of her novel Senzibil (Baile del Sol, 2023, translated into Spanish by Kepa Uharte) for the first time. Children can look forward to a workshop inspired by the book Arnoštova cesta (Arnošt’s Path). The writer is a co-author of this comic book about the life and work of Arnošt Lustig, who will be presented in Guadalajara in the presence of the initiator of the book and the chairwoman of the Arnošt Lustig Foundation, Eva Lustigová.
Sylva Fischerová will present herself primarily as a poet at the Fair; this is because her poems were published in the the Czech-Spanish anthology De sombra y terciopelo (2021), which contains poems by 17 Czech female poets and which was published by Vaso Roto, the Mexican and Spanish publishing house. The author will also join several debates about poetry and literature.
The work of the poet Jitka Bret Srbová is also included in the anthology De sombra y terciopelo. The anthology will be presented to visitors to the Fair in a separate event in the EU Pavilion, with the participation of both poet and Elena Buixaderas, editor and translator of the anthology.
Jáchym Topol will present his novels Noční práce (Nightwork), Kloktat dehet (Gargling with Tar), and Chladnou zemí (The Devil’s Workshop) to Spanish-speaking readers. He will also be presenting his poetry in Spanish translation for the first time. His selection of poems has been translated by his own translator, Kepa Uharte, especially for his appearance in Mexico.
In addition to international debates with European colleagues, meetings with students at secondary schools all around Guadalajara, among other things, also await all authors. Visitors to the literary presentations and readings can buy books by Czech authors in Spanish and English translation at the Fair bookshop.
A joint event of CzechLit and SlovLit
The Czech Literary Centre and the Slovak Literary Centre (SlovLit) have invited representatives of authors from Czechia, Slovakia and Ukraine to a debate on the theme “Borders of Impossible” (30 November). This debate will focus on the break-ups of federal states in Europe and the crossing of borders in literature, whether historical, linguistic or territorial. The discussion, to be moderated by Pavel Sibyla, Director of SlovLit, will be attended by Sylva Fischerová (CZ), Jana Beňová (SK), and Andrej Kurkov (UA).
100 years without Franz Kafka
On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the death of Franz Kafka (2024), an exhibition dedicated to his life and work will be presented in the EU Pavilion at FIL (29–30 November). The exhibition of the Franz Kafka Society in Guadalajara is presented in cooperation with the Czech Centres and CzechLit. As part of the accompanying programme, the translator and Hispanist, Iveta Gonzálezová, from the Czech Centre in Madrid will introduce visitors to the Fair books inspired by Kafka and those written by Kafka, especially in Spanish translation. Translator Elena Buixaderas will read from these books.
Places related to Kafka and the beauties of Czechia
As part of the Czech Republic’s national presentation (29 November), Petr Lutter, Director of Oficina de Turismo de la República Checa – CzechTourism, will introduce visitors to the EU Pavilion to places in Prague linked to the life of Franz Kafka. He will also focus on the beauties of the Czech Republic. Both presentations will be accompanied by a tasting of Czech beer from Czechvar Mexico.
Book World, CzechLit/MZK, and the Library of Milan Kundera
During the programme for book professionals (27–30 November), the Book World Prague fair will be presented by its Director, Radovan Auer, to colleagues from Central and South America. Prof. Tomáš Kubíček, Director of the Moravian Library in Brno, will invite visitors to FIL in Guadalajara to visit the new Library of Milan Kundera in Brno, which houses books and documents from the personal library of one of the most translated writers from the Czech Republic and Czechoslovakia. Kateřina Chromková, who works for CzechLit and focuses on Spanish-speaking countries, will be providing publishers with information about the Ministry of Culture of the Czech Republic’s support programme for the translation of Czech literature into other languages, as well as the latest Czech titles in all literary genres. The Chief Coordinator of CzechLit, Martin Krafl, will take part in the debates of ENLIT (European Network for Literary Translation), of which he is a member of the board. He will focus on the activities of CzechLit and the presentation of Czechia at international book fairs, including the 2026 Frankfurt Book Fair where Czechia will be the Guest of Honour. The EU Pavilion will also present current Czech literary production during numerous meetings with publishers, translators and literary agents.
Milan Kundera Library. Photo: KIVA photography
Programme for EU book professionals / International Publishers Forum
During the Fair (27–29 November), the EU Pavilion will bring together publishers, literary agents, international rights agents, librarians, booksellers, illustrators, translators and other book professionals from all EU Member States. They will discuss current publishing issues with colleagues from Latin America and the Caribbean. Sixty participants in the programme have been selected by the Brussels preparatory team led by curator Renata Zamida. The Czech Republic will be represented by foreign trade manager Tomáš Jodas from the Albatros publishing house, editor Pavlína Juračková from the Paseka publishing house and translator Daniel Ordóñez. Their participation is supported by the EU-funded Cultural Relations Platform (CRP).
Panel discussions will focus, among other things, on independent publishers’ problems with distribution, the sale of audio-visual rights, intellectual property and the promotion of audio books. The programme will also include presentations by participants of the International Publishers Forum.
Diplomats at FIL
Representatives of Czech diplomacy will also be attending the Fair. The Ambassador of the Czech Republic to Mexico, Zdeněk Kubánek, will take part in the opening ceremony (25 November) and appear in the “Embajadores de la literatura” (Ambassadors of Literature) section (26 November) together with the ambassadors of Belgium, Italy, Hungary and Denmark. He will read from Milan Kundera’s novel Žert (The Joke). The Czech delegation in Guadalajara will be accompanied by the Czech consul, Zdeňka Šubrová. The Honorary Consul of the Czech Republic in Guadalajara, Yaromir Yan Nechyba, is preparing a social gathering for all guests from the Czech Republic at the Fair (28 November).
The International Book Fair in Guadalajara, Mexico, is the largest book fair in the Latin American region and an important cultural festival with a multi-faceted programme. It offers networking opportunities for book professionals, authors, translators and agents. FIL is also an important social and media event, attracting more than 800,000 visitors from the general public each year. FIL has more than 15 million followers on its social networks and is covered by more than 2,000 journalists from the press and other media around the world.