FILSD23 was marred by protests and calls for a boycott, because Israel was lined up as Guest of Honour, at a time when the Palestine crisis was still daily news, not a reporting afterthought.
FILSD ’24 will run November 7-17 this year, at the Juan Pablo Duarte Cultural Plaza, with the theme “Books connect,” aiming to strengthen cultural and literary ties with Dominicans abroad.
The event theme will feature New York City’s Washington Heights as its Guest of Honor, recognising the largest Dominican community in the US.
This year’s event will honor the Dominican writer Mateo Morrison, who won the National Literature Award in 2010.
The public-facing fair will feature 61 international guests from 18 countries and over 500 activities, including conferences, concerts, and more, as one would rightly expect from a Caribbean event.
There will be 15 pavilions this year, including the Imagination and Comics Pavilions, and new additions like the Narrative Pavilion, and notable international authors such as Luis García Montero, David Toscana, and Ana María Shua will participate.
Per DR1, “a new feature of FILSD 2024 will be the “Fair Outside the House,” a series of activities with national and international writers held outside the fairgrounds.”
The continuing evolution of these “small market” and “emerging market” book fairs is always a pleasure to see, and this year’s ten-day FILSD can hopefully beat last year’s footfall and revenue numbers.
Regular readers will know that last year the run up to FILSD23 was marred by protests and calls for a boycott, because Israel was lined up as Guest of Honour, at a time when the Palestine crisis was still daily news, not a reporting afterthought.
Despite some people staying away, FILSD23 saw almost 300,000 visitors spend more than 50 million pesos ($832,000) in the first-ever air-conditioned event.
Read more: Dominican Today and DR1.
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsletter.
