After the 84th edition of the Madrid Book Fair, in which Lanzarote has made a place for itself for the first time in its history, "the assessment could not be more positive for the Publications Service of the Cabildo and the association of booksellers and publishers Isla Literaria, co-responsible for managing the activity," they indicated in a press release this Friday.
Over two weeks and in a stand under the heading Lanzarote, in the area dedicated to guilds, the island has shown the enormous variety and quality of the work published in its territory, which has seen the light thanks to institutional support and the existence of seven local publishers, who also took a selection of their catalogs to the Paseo de Coches del Retiro.
According to the president of Isla Literaria, Tomás Pérez-Esaú, "the satisfaction with the results of the collaboration with the Publications Service of the Cabildo is maximum, and lays the foundations to continue promoting Lanzarote's literature in this and other island and national showcases." He also had words of gratitude to the work of the photographer and editor of Ediciones Remotas, Rubén Acosta, for the enormous task deployed to ensure that the fair crossing came to fruition.
The store has hosted the book signings of 16 local writers, who traveled to Madrid to support the initiative and live the experience alongside the more than 350 communities, publishers, bookstores and entities that have joined this edition. José Ramón Betancort, Concha de Ganzo, Rubén Acosta, Ignacio Romero, Violeta Izquierdo, Víctor Bello, Myriam Ybot, Alexis de la Cruz Otero or Ismael Lozano are some of them.
The Councilor of the Publications Service, Ascensión Toledo, who accompanied the Lanzarote expedition in the first days, believes that any investment in cultural production outside the island limits is beneficial and generates a return of admiration and respect in the collective imagination. "Whoever reads Agustín Espinosa, Ángel
Guerra and Rafael Arozarena, but also Juan Gopar, Marianna Amorim or Inés Caraballo, to name just a few examples, will compose the best image of our geography and our society, of its history of resilience and effort, in a clearer, more accurate and emotional way than any tourist catalog and with a much greater impact," she says.