The Casa de la Cultura Agustín de la Hoz in Arrecife hosted this Thursday the official presentation of Isla Literaria, the association of booksellers and publishers of Lanzarote. The event was attended by the Minister of Culture of the Island Council, Alberto Aguiar, and the Councilor for Culture of the City Council of Arrecife, Alfredo Mendoza, who praised the initiative and celebrated that this type of initiative takes shape on our island. Both institutions highlighted the fact that "the world of publishing and reading enjoys such good health in Lanzarote and offered their help to establish collaborative links in the development of cultural activities carried out by the association".
This recently created associative project is composed of several publishers and booksellers of the island and its main objectives are to serve as a body for union and coordination of the associates and to promote the unity of the book sector on the island, attending to the needs of information, training, research and improvement of bookstores and publishers, studying and disseminating all issues that may affect the promotion of the sector, as well as cooperating and collaborating with the Public Administration in the defense and promotion of the book culture, in particular in events such as Book Day, Book Fairs, Bookstores Day, or any activity aimed at promoting reading.
Taking advantage of the occasion, Ediciones Itineraria, a new member of the association, and its first publication, Lancelot 28º 7º by Agustín Espinosa, were presented. This edition includes two prologues and criticisms and reviews from some of the most important cultural journalists of the moment in national media and the archipelago, which show the relevance and admiration that this work aroused. This publication was made jointly with the Government of the Canary Islands for the celebration of the Day of the Canarian Letters.
Next, the president of the association read the inaugural speech, a journey through many of the literary islands of the History of Literature, whether real or fictional, from antiquity to the present day.
The event culminated with the intervention of the poet and Canary Islands Prize 2016, Elsa López, who acted as godmother of the association with a speech in which she highlighted the need for books and the importance of these in our intellectual development. As a culmination, the poet read some of her poems accompanied on the piano by Israel Curbelo.