The University of Guadalajara, through a project created by the Environmental Sciences Museum as part of the University’s Cultural Center, and with the support of the Guadalajara International Book Fair, has established the José Emilio Pacheco City and Nature Award. The prize, which will be given for the first time this year, will be dedicated to poetry. The winning author, who must write in Spanish and have at least ten unpublished poems or poems published in the last five years that are related to nature, urban sustainability, socio-ecological harmony and environmental conservation, will be given a purse of US $10,000. The award is dedicated to poet José Emilio Pacheco, whose work explores the duality between cities and nature.
Created by the University of Guadalajara, and with the collaboration of the National Institute for Indigenous Languages, the Culture Ministry, the National Commission for the Development of the Indigenous Cultures and Jalisco’s Department of Education, the American Indigenous Literature Award is granted to enrich, protect and promote the legacy and richness of Mexico’s indigenous peoples through literature in all its forms, and to and acknowledge and further develop the careers and works of indigenous authors. The award, which carries a purse of US $25,000, will be given for the fourth time at the 2016 FIL Guadalajara.
The SM Ibero-American Award for Literature for Children and Young People was implemented in 2005, the year of Ibero-American literature, with the goal of promoting literature for children and young people throughout Ibero-America. The award is given out each year during the Guadalajara International Book Fair to recognize writers of literature for children and young people and carries a purse of US $30,000.
Juan Carlos Quezadas
Karime Cardona Cury
With the goal of creating a network that helps to encourage the work of illustrators of books for children and young people in Ibero-America, the SM Foundation and the FIL Guadalajara invites illustrators to submit their work to be included in the Annual Ibero-American Illustration Catalog. The 45 works selected will be displayed in an exposition at the Guadalajara International Book Fair. In addition, illustrators will have the opportunity to work on an illustrated book with Ediciones SM and the winner will be given US $5,000. You can find more information at: www.iberoamericailustra.com
Program Search
Guest of Honor Pavilion
Spain, Guest of Honor
Guest of Honor Pavilion
Meetings (and misunderstandings). Challenges of recent Spanish narrative
Spain, Guest of Honor
Guest of Honor Pavilion
Meetings (and misunderstandings). Challenges of recent Spanish narrative
In its special September issue, to mark Spain's presence as a Guest Country at FIL Guadalajara, Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, a magazine published continuously by AECID from 1948 to the present and dedicated to reviewing literary creation in Spain and Latin America, looks at the challenges facing Spanish fiction.
Tracking the emerging voices of recent years, the need for constant renewal, and the most significant contributions in the novel, novella, and short story formats are some of the topics covered in this extensive reflection on the main developments in Spanish fiction and its future challenges in the first decades of the 21st century. When analyzing literary creation in Spain, it is also necessary to analyze the relationships between Spain and Latin America, the curiosity and mixing of writings, and the need to improve knowledge about the creative processes in the countries involved.
Participants: Aroa Moreno Durán, Clara Obligado, Ismael Ramos
Moderator: Javier Serena
Aroa Moreno Durán
Invitado de Honor(Badajoz, 1981) studied Journalism at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid.
In 2017, she published her first novel, La hija del comunista (Caballo de Troya; 2023, Random House; winner of the Ojo Crítico Award for novel of the year in 2017 and, to date, translated into seven languages), and in 2022, La bajamar (Random House; Grand Continent Award and nominated for the 2023 Vargas Llosa Novel Biennial Award, translated into four languages).
She has also published the books of poems Veinte años sin lápices nuevos (2009, Student) and Jet lag (2016, Baile del Sol). Almudena. Una biografía was published in 2024 by the Lumen publishing house and illustrated by Ana Jarén.
Other activities involving the participant:
Portrait of a time with family
Clara Obligado
Invitado de HonorShe was born in Buenos Aires and has lived in Madrid since 1976, where she teaches creative writing workshops. She received the Lumen Award for her novel La hija de Marx, the Juan March Cencillo Short Novel Award for Petrarca para viajeros (Pre-Textos,) and the Setenil Award for the best storybook of the year for El libro de los viajes equivocados.
Her non-fiction works Una casa lejos de casa and Todo lo que crece have been republished on multiple occasions, and the latter is being translated into English by X Artists' Books. As an anthologist, she ventured into short stories with Por favor, sea breve and she coordinated for Nórdica publishers the Atlas de Literatura Latinoamericana (arquitectura inestable). Her latest book is Tres maneras de decir adiós (Páginas de Espuma, 2024).
She has never lost contact with her country of origin, where her work is published by different publishers.
Other activities involving the participant:
"Short forms"
Ismael Ramos
Invitado de Honor(Mazaricos, A Coruña, 1994) is a Galician-language writer. His first fiction book, A parte fácil (Xerais, 2023), has been published in Spanish by Las afueras (La parte fácil) and in Catalan by Angle (La part fácil). He is also the author of three poetry books: Lixeiro (Xerais, 2021), Lumes (Apiario, 2017) and Os fillos da fame (Xerais, 2016). Two of them have been translated into Spanish: Ligero (La Bella Warsaw, 2021) and Fuegos (La Bella Warsaw, 2019), and one into Portuguese: Fogos (Do lado esquerdo, 2022).
He has received the Premio Nacional de Poesía Joven Award (2022) presented by the Ministry of Culture, and the Javier Morote Award (2019), presented by the independent Spanish bookstores (CEGAL) for the best new author.
As a writer, he is a frequent collaborator with eldiario.es.
Other activities involving the participant:
"Short forms"
The gift of the poem
Annual International Storytellers Conference
Javier Serena
Invitado de HonorSerena is the director of the magazine Cuadernos Hispanoamericanos, published by the Directorate of Cultural and Scientific Relations of the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID) since its founding in 1948, and dedicated to literary criticism in Spanish.
He is the author of the novels Atila.Un escritor indescifrable (2015, Tropo; 2022, Srobo) and Last words on Earth (2018, Agadir). Both books are being translated into English in the United States by Open Letter Books.
He has been a fellow at the Antonio Gala Foundation, the Valparaíso Foundation, the Axóuxere Foundation, and the Les Récollets residency.
Other activities involving the participant:
Meetings (and misunderstandings). En otro país
Thursday December 05
12:00 to 12:50
Pabellón de España, Expo Guadalajara