Guadalajara International Book Fair

The Guadalajara International Book Fair, better known as the "FIL" (from its Spanish name: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara) is, along with the Buenos Aires International Book Fair, one of the most important annual events of its kind in the Spanish-speaking world. Created in 1987, the FIL is put on by the University of Guadalajara. It is held every year, starting on the last Saturday in November and continuing for nine days, in Guadalajara, a city in Mexico's state of Jalisco.

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.

Prizes and Honors

As a way of rewarding and honoring literary publishing, the "FIL" awards the following annual prizes and honors:
* Premio de Literatura Latinoamericana y del Caribe Juan Rulfo (Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature) (1991)
* Premio y Homenaje Nacional de Periodismo Cultural Fernando Benítez (Fernando Benítez Prize and National Homage to Cultural Journalism) (1992)
* Reconocimiento al Mérito Editorial (Publishing Merit Award) (1993)
* Premio Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize) (1993)
* ArpaFIL (1995)
* Homenaje al Bibliófilo (Homage to Bibliophiles) (2001)
* Homenaje al Bibliotecario (Homage to Librarians) (2002)

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. Beginning with that year, the guests of honor have been: Colombia (1993), New Mexico (USA) (1994), Venezuela (1995), Canada (1996), Argentina (1997), Puerto Rico (1998), Chile (1999), Spain (2000), Brazil (2001), Cuba (2002), Quebec (2003), Catalonian culture (2004), Peru (2005), Andalusia (2006), Colombia (2007), and Italy (2008).

{| tablabonita
- valign="top" width="50%"
- bgcolor="#f0f0ff"!align="left"|Year!align="center"|Guest of Honor Country
-
align="left"|1993
align="left"|flagicon|ColombiaColombia
-
align="left"|1994
align="left"|flagicon|New_Mexico New Mexico, USA
-
align="left"|1995
align="left"|flagicon|Venezuela Venezuela
-
align="left"|1996
align="left"|flagicon|Canada Canada
-
align="left"|1997
align="left"|flagicon|Argentina Argentina
-
align="left"|1998
align="left"|flagicon|Puerto_Rico Puerto Rico
-
align="left"|1999
align="left"|flagicon|Chile Chile
-
align="left"|2000
align="left"|flagicon|Spain Spain
-
align="left"|2001
align="left"|flagicon|Brazil Brazil
-
align="left"|2002
align="left"|flagicon|Cuba Cuba
-
align="left"|2003
align="left"|flagicon|Quebec Quebec, Canada
-
align="left"|2004
align="left"|flagicon|Catalonia‎ Catalonian Culture, Spain
-
align="left"|2005
align="left"|flagicon|Peru Peru
-
align="left"|2006
align="left"
-
align="left"|2007
align="left"|flagicon|Colombia Colombia
-
align="left|2008
align="left"| flagicon|Italy Italy
-

Administration

The current managing director of the Guadalajara International Book Fair is Nubia Edith Macías Navarro, and its chairman is Raúl Padilla López.

Statistics

At the 2005 fair:
*There were 15,357 exhibitors from 45 countries.
*Visitor attendance at the fair was 494,388.
*There were 2,899 cultural activities.

At the 2006 fair:
*It was held, as it is every year, at the Expo Guadalajara convention center, which has 40,000 m² of floor space.
*1,307,002 visits were made to the FIL web site.
*Visitor attendence was 525,000.
*84,495 children at activities for children.
*There were 16,740 exhibitors.
*1,523 journalists and 439 communications media accredited from 60 countries.
*296 book presentations with their respective authors.
*110 literary agents.
*94 artistic and musical activities.

External Links

FIL's official English page: http://www.fil.com.mx/ingles/i_index.asp

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