The 30th Guadalajara International Book Fair, also known as FIL (Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara) took place November 26 to December 4, 2016 at the Guadalajara Convention Center in Mexico.
Approximately 650 writers from around the world registered to attend, sign books, or speak. Forty-four countries were represented.
The fair was dedicated to Latin America as opposed to one specific city or country. In 2017, FIL has announced that Madrid (as in Spain) will be the honored guest. No other details offered.
Bookstores and book publisher/distributors filled two huge pavillions, one domestic and one international at FIL, the largest Spanish language book fair in the world.
Norman Manea, born in 1936, won the $150,000 (USD) FIL Literary Award. Manea, who was born in Romania and is considered that country’s premiere writer, was a MacArthur Foundation Fellow. He has been nominated more than once for a Nobel prize. His themes are the Wandering Jew, identity, and isolation. He lives in New York City and you can read more about him at http://www.NormanManea.com.
I especially liked visiting Nirvana Books (Mexico City), which as you may guess from its name focuses on Body, Mind, Spirit books. The main publishers represented were Editorial Kairos, Ediciones Obelisco, and Editorial Sirio from Spain. A good number of the titles were Spanish translations of books by American authors.
Other Body/Mind/Spirit books were found at Ediciones Urano, Grupo Planeta (Paidos), Lectorum (Prana), and Oceano.
I like the enticing slogan for Grupo Planeta , Creemos en Los Libros, We Believe in Books.
Arte de Mexico always displays fabulous folkloric works from around the country as well as gorgeous coffee table books.
Gandhi Books is a popular book chain in Mexico. They attend each year and have stores in Guadalajara.
In December 2016, the senate of Mexico approved the used of medical marijuana, a controversial subject in the nation for years. Legalization awaits other approvals.
Book Ambassador 