Nine days at the Guadalajara Fair

BarcelonaIt's not easy to get there. GuadalajaraWell, actually, it's not complicated, but it does require patience. Seven hours of waiting at Mexico City's airport, a surprisingly inhospitable place, because an airline has unilaterally decided to cancel our scheduled flight. It won't just be our team arriving from Barcelona a few days before the Guadalajara International Book Fair kicks off, where the city is the guest of honor. Unfortunately, many authors will find themselves in the same situation, and they will suffer the consequences. Special mention to the patience shown by David MoragasAfter a bumpy journey, he found all the joy in his participation in the book fair. He left happy after his "Echoes of the FIL," an activity involving some of the writers in the Barcelona program, which consists of visiting high school classrooms. Xavier Bosch smiled when I asked him how it went, and Miqui Otero explained that many students had greeted him in their pajamas, because in an interview he had explained that writing is 90% of the time spent in pajamas.

Josep Pedrals brought us sweets that wouldn't fit in his suitcase: everyone was leaving the schools excited and laden with baskets of traditional products. Speaking of patience, I'd also like to acknowledge Pedrals's: his books were supposed to arrive from Ecuador, and after some rather problematic procedures, they flew to the FIL in a suitcase that got lost. He took it well, and even said he would write a poem. I don't know if Regina Rodríguez Sirvent She'll include it in her second novel, but her suitcase arrived the day she was returning to Barcelona. She's the one who perfectly described the Barcelona expedition: "This is Catalonia in miniature." Others spoke of colonies, because all the participants were in the same hotel and met, especially at breakfast. It was lovely to see how they interacted and, in some cases, became friends—authors who had never spoken here before. I also enjoyed bringing together people for the talks who you sense will be interesting to discuss together, like Victoria Cirlot with Mar García Puig, or the trio formed by Elisabet Riera, Rafael Argullol, and Miquel de Palol.

We chose the motto "The Flowers Will Come," from a story by Rodoreda, to introduce ourselves in Guadalajara. What we couldn't imagine was that they would be so eagerly awaited. Our pavilion, a Barcelona square designed by Fabric and Santiago de León, was packed from the first day. It was especially full on the last Saturday, when we celebrated Sant Jordi with a first-rate town crier, Màrius Serra. I spoke with him about everyone's interest in Catalan, and he told me that this is because Mexicans approach the language without prejudice. The day before, film director Marcel Barrena commented that he had detected greater interest in Catalan in Guadalajara than in Barcelona. This was evident in the pavilion's bookstore, where more than three hundred books in Catalan were sold; Marta Orriols and Txell Feixas explained, laughing, that someone had brought them a Salvat-Papasseit book to sign.

One of the best-selling authors was Montserrat RoigAnd it's no wonder: on the first day, after the packed auditorium for Javier Cercas, it was also very full to hear the beautiful tribute to the author by Gemma Ruiz, Begoña Gómez Urzaiz, and María Mur. It was moving to feel how they celebrated her work and how they connected with the Mexican audience. It was also very moving to hear Roger Mas with the Cobla Sant Jordi, the first time a copla had ever played in Mexico. The audience gave a standing ovation, goosebumps. Just like with The Diamond Square that Carlota Subirós assembled, the success of the exhibition The women will sellThe program by Ingrid Guardiola, Mita Casacuberta, and Anna Maria Iglesia, and the tribute to Pere Calders, were truly special. There were so many wonderful moments that I don't have the space to recount them all, nor to mention everyone. I do want to sincerely thank each and every participant in the program. I also want to thank the tireless journalists who covered it and, of course, the teams: I was the proud curator of a delegation that provided work for so many people. Thank you so, so much to everyone!