French Prime
Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault was just one of the thousands of guests at the
official opening of the Paris Salon du Livre (Book Fair) on March 20, proving
that the predicted death of books is still a long way off.
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| Books on display at the Argentinian pavilion. |
The annual
event welcomed some 197,000 visitors last year, says spokesperson Daphnée
Gravelat, and a similar or higher number is expected this year, as the Salon
features writers from South America, Africa, the Caribbean, Asia and other
regions.
Numerous authors
will be giving readings, speaking with fans, participating in panel discussions
and presenting their latest works over the next four days. The country of
honour at this 34th edition of the fair is Argentina, with 46 writers from the
Latin American country attending.
“Visitors to
the fair can take stock of the vitality and diversity of Argentina’s
contemporary literary production, which is at the same time widespread,
inventive and poetic,” the organizers say.
They are
using the occasion to “fêter” the 100th anniversary of the birth of Julio
Cortázar, the highly influential Argentinean writer who spent many years in
Paris, where he died in 1984. Visitors can learn more about the writer through
a special exhibition at the fair on his life and work.
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| The African pavilion with bookseller Ruth Ntsiente |
Literature by
African writers is being highlighted as well, with a strong presence particularly
of those who in write in French. They include Léonora Miano and Calixthe Beyala,
both prize-winning authors born in Cameroon and now based in France; the controversial French-Congolese writer Alain
Mabanckou; and diplomat-author Henri Lopes, a former prime minister of the Republic of the Congo.
Many of the authors will meet the public at the pavilion titled “Livres et auteurs du
Bassin du Congo” (Books and Writers of the Congo Basin), where a live band and
traditionally dressed hostesses greeted literature fans on opening night.
Through
individual publishers, the Caribbean is being represented by writers such as
the prize-winning novelist and poet Olive Senior, who has just had a bi-lingual
poetry collection published in France - Un
pipiri m'a dit/ A little bird told me - which she will present on Saturday.
Senior, whose
books of short stories have also been translated into French, said she was
delighted to attend the Salon for the first time. She said she supported plans by SWAN’s editor and fellow Jamaican writer Alecia McKenzie to try to organize
a Caribbean pavilion there in the future.
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| Senior (l.) at the Salon with publisher Marc Torralba and Christine Raguet (translator of an earlier book) |
For those who
love comic books, some of the top Japanese Mangakas (cartoonists) are on hand during the weekend, at the huge section of the fair devoted to the genre. Fans will be able to rub shoulders with Kaoru Mori and Kaori Yuki, the respective
authors of A Bride’s Story and Angel Sanctuary.
They will be joined by several Chinese artists, illustrators and writers as the
Salon du Livre has named booming, vibrant Shanghai the “city of honour” this year.
