Guadalajara International Book Fair Explained

Guadalajara International Book Fair
Status:Active
Genre:Multi-genre
Venue:Expo Guadalajara convention center
Location:Guadalajara, Jalisco
Country:Mexico
First:1987
Organizer:University of Guadalajara
Attendance:525,000 (2006)
Website:http://www.fil.com.mx/ingles/

The Guadalajara International Book Fair, better known as the FIL (from its Spanish name: Spanish; Castilian: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara) is the largest book fair in the Americas, and second-largest book fair in the world after Frankfurt's. It is also considered the most important cultural annual event of its kind in the Spanish-speaking world.[1] The purpose of the FIL is to provide an optimal business environment for the book-industry professionals and exhibitors who attend the fair, and for the reading public eager to meet authors and pick up the latest entries in the market.

Created in 1987, the FIL is put on by the University of Guadalajara and is held at the Expo Guadalajara convention center, which has 40000abbr=onNaNabbr=on of floor space. FIL is held every year, starting on the last Saturday in November and continuing for nine days, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

The current managing director of the Guadalajara International Book Fair is Marisol Schulz, and its president from its inception until his death in 2023 was Raúl Padilla López. The book fair won the Princess of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities in 2020.[2]

Prizes and honours

As a way of rewarding and honouring literary publishing, the FIL awards the following annual prizes and honours:

Invited countries or cultural regions

Since 1993, the FIL has invited a country or region to be the guest of honor, providing each an opportunity to display the best of its cultural and literary heritage, as listed in the following table:

YearGuest of Honor Country or Region[3]
1993Colombia
1994 New Mexico
1995 Venezuela
1996 Canada
1997 Argentina
1998 Puerto Rico
1999 Chile
2000 Spain
2001 Brazil
2002 Cuba
2003 Quebec
2004 Catalonia
2005 Peru
2006 Andalusia
2007 Colombia
2008 Italy
2009 Los Angeles
2010 Castile and León
2011 Germany
2012 Chile
2013 Israel
2014 Argentina
2015 United Kingdom
2016 Latin America
2017 Madrid
2018 Portugal
2019 India
2021 Peru
2022 Sharjah and Arab Culture
2023 European Union

History

2005

2006

2013

2016

2023

Notes and References

  1. Web site: The Guadalajara International Book Fair 2017 . SuperMemo. November 20, 2017 . November 26, 2017.
  2. Web site: Guadalajara International Book Fair wins 2020 Princess of Asturias Award . El Universal . June 11, 2020 . es . 10 June 2020.
  3. https://www.fil.com.mx/ingles/info/historia.asp FIL: A Cultural Bridge
  4. Web site: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara .