Book Fury 2019

In this version, after the social outbreak, the free event reconfigured its programming just the year that marks a decade since the first Fury that occurred in 2009. At the literary meeting, as usual, there will be a wide display of the editorial news in the Plaza Imagen, the Plaza de las Letras and the zócalo, of the Gabriela Mistral Cultural Center (GAM), in Alameda 227, which has also been the epicenter of the marches and confrontations with the Carabineros.

More limited than in other years, the Fury of the Book will not take place over four days, but over two, focused on the weekend of December 21 and 22. In addition, it will operate earlier, between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. It will also be more austere: for safety reasons, there will be no food carts available.

More than 130 national publishers (Alquimia, La Calabaza del Diablo, Overol, Laurel, among others) and 30 foreign publishers (such as Caja Negra Editora, Ediciones Godot and Eterna Cadencia, from Argentina) will be presented in the open spaces of the GAM. Along with the book exhibition, there will be discussions about constitutional change and the violation of human rights. Among the writers will be the National Prize winner Diamela Eltit, Lina Meruane and Nona Fernández.

“Precisely at this moment when we are all mobilized and rethinking who we are, it becomes even more necessary to take advantage of the opportunity that reading and discussion offer,” says Simón Ergas, director of La Furia del Libro.

This year, like many cultural events, the Santiago International Book Fair (Filsa), which took place at Mapocho Station, was suspended. Its organizers, the Chilean Book Chamber, decided not to hold it "after evaluating the latest events that occurred in the country."

Meanwhile, those who organize and are part of the Furia del Libro decided to continue with the festival of independent publishers, made up of the partners of the Cooperativa de Editores de la Furia and Editores Chile.

"La Furia, in addition to being a book sales event, is a space for meeting and reflection. With the publishers we reformulated the program in relation to the political situation," says Simón Ergas. Regarding the demonstrations, he adds that "those days mark two months of the social outbreak and we will take precautions, both for the safety of the exhibitors and the people. That is why the closing hours were shortened, adapting to the operation of the Metro."

From The Prisoners to the Constitution
Apart from offering the best of local publishing production, the Book Fury already has a program in line with what happens on the street and social demands.

For example, on Saturday the 21st, there will be a discussion called The Dance of the Leftovers. Los Prisioneros and protest music in Latin America. The cartoonist Malaimagen, Cristóbal González Lorca, musician and author of the book Latin America is Great, the international route of Los Prisioneros, the academic César Farah and the journalist Marisol García are summoned to talk about the topic.

That same day, Nona Fernández will share her vision of the city with a series of urban planners. While the writer Lina Meruane (Becoming Palestinian) will talk with the mayor of Recoleta, Daniel Jadue, in relation to how to Write in conflict zones: from the Palestinian Intifada to the social outbreak in Chile.

Already on Sunday the 22nd, the professor and researcher in Social Sciences, Carlos Pérez Soto (Marxism and popular movement), will talk with the author and 2018 National Literature Prize, Diamela Eltit, on the topic Art and politics: the refoundation of the emblems.

The discussion on the New Constitution, composed of lawyer Fernando Atria, and another on the Constitution and feminism with the activist and law student, Sofía Brito, could not be missed.

Illustrators Catalina Bu, Sol Díaz and Constanza Salazar will join the Book Fury with a workshop. While the conversation Illustrated Voices: Illustration as Activism will be made up of Jorge Montealegre, Malaimagen and Melina Rapimán.

Text published in El Culto, la Tercera
Dec 4, 2019