The Havana International Book Fair runs through the 24th, and at the BBC Sarah Rainsford reports that Havana book fair feeds Cuba's hunger for literature.
Leonardo Padura Fuentes received the 2012 National Literature Prize here, and his books were in high demand -- "One thousand copies sold out in an instant", Rainsford claims, in what is probably only slightly exaggerated hyperbole.
Disappointing to hear, however, that:
Leonardo Padura Fuentes received the 2012 National Literature Prize here, and his books were in high demand -- "One thousand copies sold out in an instant", Rainsford claims, in what is probably only slightly exaggerated hyperbole.
Disappointing to hear, however, that:
"We'd like to print more literature, but our finances don't permit that," explains Zuleica Romay, president of Cuba's official Book Institute.Interesting, however, that Padura suggests (with only slightly exaggerated hyperbole ...):
"In the 90s, paper, electricity and ink all disappeared and Cuba stopped publishing books. For writers, that break with state institutions created a space that soon filled with freedom," he explains.