Extremadura, Ibero-American capital of the phrase | Culture | EUROtoday

For 4 days, Extremadura stands on the epicenter of literature in Spanish. The VI Mario Vargas Llosa Novel Biennial lands for the primary time in Spain, and it does so in a area synonymous with heritage, hospitality and a vigorous cultural scene. With Cáceres as its major venue and parallel actions in Badajoz and Trujillo, the Vargas Llosa Biennial brings collectively authors, editors, journalists, philosophers and readers from October 22 to 25 to have a good time the inventive energy of our language and promote dialogue between Latin America and Spain.

The alternative of Extremadura isn’t unintentional. The Biennial – organized by the Vargas Llosa Chair since 2014 and promoted on this version by the Junta de Extremadura – was born to construct bridges and venture literature in Spanish on a worldwide scale. After its first editions within the metropolis of Lima (Peru) after which Guadalajara (Mexico), the assembly reaches a land the place literature isn’t solely learn: it’s walked by theaters and palaces, talked in bookstores, sung in up to date areas and shared with studying golf equipment. The area gives itself as a privileged ⎯and accessible⎯ host for 1000’s of readers looking for high-level cultural experiences in a novel heritage setting. A spot the place accents are acknowledged, generations are heard and books proceed to open doorways.

The coronary heart of the Biennial beats to the rhythm of its Award for the most effective novel printed within the final two years: an award of 100,000 {dollars} (about 92,400 euros) that has established itself as probably the most related in literature in Spanish. The jury has chosen six finalists who, trustworthy to the custom of the competition, will open the version with a joint dialog on the Gran Teatro de Cáceres. Gustavo Faverón (Peru), with Minifly; Pola Oloixarac (Argentina), with Bad man; Ignacio Martínez de Pisón (Spain), with Castles of fireplace; Sergio Ramírez (Nicaragua), with The golden horse; David Uclés (Spain), with The peninsula of empty homes, y Gioconda Belli (Nicaragua), with A silence stuffed with murmurs.

Tribute to the instructor

One of probably the most particular moments of this version is the tribute to Mario Vargas Llosa, who died in April 2025, on the Gran Teatro de Cáceres. Mario, a fish within the water celebrates his private and literary profession by studying fragments of his work. With the presentation of his son Álvaro and the route and adaptation of Edu Galán, the voices of Ana Belén, Ángeles Mastretta, Héctor Abad, Manuel Jabois, Magüi Mira, Ayanta Barilli, Juan Cruz, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Raúl Tola, Pilar Reyes, Karina Sainz Borgo and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, amongst others, pay tribute to a legacy that’s already an important a part of common literature.

With the presentation of his son Álvaro Vargas Llosa and the route and adaptation of Edu Galán, the voices of Ana Belén, Ángeles Mastretta, Héctor Abad, Manuel Jabois, Magüi Mira, Ayanta Barilli, Juan Cruz, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Raúl Tola, Pilar Reyes, Karina Sainz Borgo and Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, amongst others, can pay tribute to a legacy of a author who’s already an important a part of literature common

The Biennial shows a cartography of themes and codecs designed for numerous audiences. Round tables with present and necessary points: the transformation of the author right into a media determine (The Writer and the media), the return of philosophy as a significant information (The questions of life), the imprint of journalism on the narrative (Journalistic narratives in up to date literature), the stress between excessive and low tradition (The media and the disconnection from excessive tradition), the difference of the literary work to movie and tv (From guide to display screen), the function of the mental within the public sphere (You disagree) or the legacy of the Peruvian Nobel (The teachings of Vargas Llosa). Reference voices equivalent to Fernando Savater, Enrique Krauze, Juan Gabriel Vásquez, Juan Luis Cebrián, Álvaro Vargas Llosa, Rubén Amón, Marta Fernández, Ángeles Mastretta or Héctor Abad will deliver these discussions to a large viewers.

The Biennial additionally welcomes professionals within the sector with specialised conferences. At the Tatiana Foundation, editors equivalent to Silvia Sesé, Pilar Reyes, Gustavo Guerrero and Paca Flores will talk about the craft: that stability between artwork, enterprise and fervour that sustains the lifetime of books. How are new voices found? What function do guide gala’s play as massive boards for the publishing ecosystem? Experts equivalent to Ezequiel Martínez (director of the Buenos Aires Book Fair), Eva Orúe (director of the Madrid Book Fair) or José Antonio Casablanca (Badajoz Book Fair) will meet to consider methods, challenges and alternatives. Because literature is creation, but additionally industrial cloth.

The programming of the VI Biennial expands to different disciplines that dialogue with the written phrase. The cycle Journalism and Literature explores the chronicle as a bridge between narration and journalistic craft, with signatures equivalent to Manuel Hidalgo, Xavier Ayén, Marta San Miguel or Julián Quirós, coordinated by long-time journalists equivalent to Juan Cruz and Juan Zafra.

Word and artwork

Performative poetry takes over the Helga de Alvear Visual Arts Center with a present that fuses phrases and performing arts. Graphic novel vignettes created for this Based on the profitable novels of the Biennial and the work of Mario Vargas Llosa, showcases and cultural areas all through Extremadura will participate, to deliver the language of comics to the streets. Music will even have its second with the efficiency of the Van Hoboken Trio and with a live performance in Badajoz by the Extremadura Orchestra, which by together with works by the Peruvian composer Jimmy López makes a nod to Vargas Llosa’s native nation and reaffirms that the Biennial understands tradition as an ecosystem the place the whole lot dialogues.

In Badajoz, the historic novel takes the ground within the Church of Santa Catalina with tables that look on each side of the Atlantic: from the rigor and success of the style to the dialogue between Latin American and Spanish traditions

In Badajoz, the historic novel takes the ground within the Church of Santa Catalina with tables that look on each side of the Atlantic: from the rigor and success of the style to the dialogue between Latin American and Spanish traditions. Authors equivalent to María Reig, Jesús Sánchez Adalid, Santiago Mazarro, Laura Martínez-Belli and Fernando Iwasaki will debate, moderated by Isabel San Sebastián, Antonio Pérez Henares and Fermín Bocos, about why historical past continues to be fertile territory for understanding the current. In Trujillo, the cycle The craft of writing (with the collaboration of Zenda) brings collectively authors equivalent to Diego Doncel, Karina Sainz Borgo, José Carlos Llop, Alberto Olmos, Antonio Soler and Luis Alberto de Cuenca on the Palacio de los Barrantes-Cervantes of the Obra Pía de los Pizarro Foundation to speak about inventive habits, professionalization of the author and audiovisual variations. In that very same palace, the exhibition the exhibition Between the Sea and the Mud (organized by Arte-Trujillo Perú and the Obra Pía de los Pizarro Foundation) pays tribute to town’s cultural heritage with works that vary from custom to postmodernity.

Signatures and actions

The Biennial opens to residents with guide signings, integrating its studying golf equipment and organizing actions for Library Day. There can be conferences in native bookstores, an open interview with Sánchez Adalid on the Gran Teatro and illustration workshops on Vargas Llosa for the little ones. Because the area’s bookstores function a standard thread. During the Biennale, the monumental metropolis, the Renaissance palaces and the up to date artwork facilities dialogue with a program that appears to the longer term.