The Sixth edition of the London Spanish Book & Zine Fair is coming back to London this October with the participation of established writers and publishers, new voices, translations, bilingual, children's books, fanzine creators and illustrators showcasing the quality and diversity of Spanish-speaking literature.

Programme London Spanish Book & Zine Fair 2024

Wednesday 2nd October
6 pm | Free
Instituto Cervantes de Londres
15-19 Devereux Ct, Temple, London WC2R 3JJ

Found by Words
Presentation of the London Spanish Book & Zine Fair with Author’s Reading

.

Celebrate the beginning of the Sixth edition of the London Spanish Book & Zine Fair with our organisers, supporters and participants. The theme of the 2024 edition is Found by Words. And what does it mean to you to be found by words?  Have a glimpse of the fair while listening to some acclaimed and new literary voices reading prose and poetry. Authors Andrea Márquez (Argentina / UK), Rafael Peñas Cruz  (España / UK), Jasmine Kahlia  (España/ UK), Adelaida Monguillot  (Argentina/ UK), Enrique Zattara (Argentina/ UK), Fernanda Vega (México), Marjha Paulino (México) and G María Bencich-Grigore (Rumania / UK) will take part in the reading. The presentation at Instituto Cervantes London is free to attend but you must register in advance.

Celebra junto a nuestro equipo de organizadores, seguidores y participantes el inicio de la Sexta edición de la London Spanish Book & Zine Fair. El tema de nuestra feria 2024 es Found by words. ¿Qué significa para ti el encuentro con las palabras? Echa un vistazo a la feria mientras escuchas la lectura de prosa y poesía en las voces de las escritoras y escritores: Andrea Márquez (Argentina / UK), Rafael Peñas Cruz  (España / UK), Jasmine Kahlia  (España/ UK), Adelaida Monguillot  (Argentina/ UK), Enrique Zattara (Argentina/ UK), Fernanda Vega (México / Francia), Marjha Paulino (México) y G María Bencich-Grigore (Rumania / UK). La presentación en el Instituto Cervantes es de acceso libre pero debes registrarte con anticipación.


Saturday 5th October

London Spanish Book & Zine Fair
Conway Hall
25 Red Lion Street
London WC1R 4RL

10 am to 4 pm
Age Recommendation: All ages. 

Tickets: Standard £ 5.-
Students and Living Support £ 4.-
Children under 12 years old free
Under 12’s must be accompanied by an adult

.

The Sixth edition of the London Spanish Book & Zine Fair is coming back to London this October with the participation of established writers and publishers, new voices, translations, bilingual, children’s books, fanzine creators, illustrators, picture book makers and more. Explore Spanish-speaking literature and the works of more than 50 participating publishers at the exhibitors hall. Join us for poetry readings, talks given by new and acclaimed literary voices, and more.

Check the Exhibitors participating at the book fair

Check the Full Programme 2024

The line-up of talks features Virginia Higa, author of the celebrated books Los Sorrentinos and El hechizo del verano; acclaimed authors Enzo Maqueira and Diego Sánchez Aguilar, in conversation with novelist and journalist Santiago Díaz-Bravo; award-winning graphic novel and children’s author Sole Otero and illustrator and architect Titihoon, in conversation with journalist and founder of feminist newspaper femiñetas, Flor Coll, and more. Lira Popular Workshop (Chilean popular poetry) with La Charawilla in collaboration with King’s College London; ‘The Bestiary’; Families Writing Workshop with Karina Lickorish Quinn and Storytelling for children with María Quintana Silva.

The theme of the 2024 edition is Found by Words. What does it mean to you to be found by words?

Talks and presentations will take place in Conway Hall’s Library (upstairs). Zine workshops, storytelling for children and a poster exhibition of the winners of the competition Found by Words will be in the Main Hall and the Green Room.

You must register in advance to attend to all of the fair’s activities.

The LSBZF 2024 is organised by La Tundra Magazine with the support of Instituto Cervantes London, the Centre for Latin American and Caribbean Studies (CLACS) School of Advanced Study, University of London and the Mexican Cultural Centre. The London Spanish Book & Zine Fair will take place on Saturday, October 5th at Conway Hall, London WC1R 4RL, from 10am to 4pm.

.

La Sexta Edición de la London Spanish Book & Zine Fair tendrá lugar el sábado 5 de octubre en Conway Hall, de 10 am a 4 pm. Más de 50 expositores participarán en la feria en el Hall Principal abierta a todo público. Descubre la literatura de escritores y editores consagrados, nuevas voces, traducciones, libros bilingües, infantiles, creadores de fanzines e ilustradores. Un grupo de expositores que refleja la calidad y diversidad de la literatura de habla hispana donde encontrarás algo para todos los gustos.

Durante la jornada se desarrollará un programa de charlas y presentaciones en la Biblioteca de Conway Hall (planta alta), talleres, una exposición de pósters resultado de la convocatoria de carteles ‘Found by Words’ y actividades para niños en el escenario. Es necesario registrarse con anticipación para asistir a las actividades.


PROGRAMME

Saturday 5th October 10 am to 4 pm

TALKS at the Conway Hall Library (upstairs)

  • Sat 5th October | 11 am- 11.45 am | ROUND TABLE |
    Indie Publishers: Is it worth it? Challenges of editorial work
    In Spanish and English. Conway Hall Library (upstairs)

.

Owners of a tailored catalogue, independent book publishers facilitate the publishing of authors and literature that move within the margins. When writing, editing, publishing and distributing become acts of rebellion and tenacity, there is surely an indie editor behind it. What is their role in social inclusion and diversity? Is it worth starting a publishing project nowadays? Are there supporting policies? Discover in this round table with Orianna Camejo / Lecturas de Arraigo (Spain-Venezuela), Clara Inés / Elemento Disruptivo (Argentina) and Martín Ramón / Espacio Moebius (Argentina) the thousand and one ways (and challenges) to run an indie publishing house.

Editoriales independientes: Retos y desafíos del trabajo editorial
Dueñas de un catálogo a medida, las editoriales independientes facilitan la llegada de autores y literatura que se mueven en las márgenes. Cuando escribir, editar, publicar y distribuir se convierten en actos de rebeldía y de tesón, seguramente detrás hay un editor independiente. ¿Cuál es su rol en la inclusión y la diversidad social? ¿Vale la pena en nuestros días comenzar un proyecto editorial? ¿Existen políticas de apoyo? Descubre en esta mesa redonda con Orianna Camejo / Lecturas de Arraigo (España-Venezuela), Clara Inés / Elemento Disruptivo (Argentina) y Martín Ramón / Espacio Moebius (Argentina) las mil y una formas de encarar (y sobrevivir) una editorial independiente.


  • Sat 5th October | 12pm- 12.45pm | TALK |
    Illustration is a Powerful Voice
    Sole Otero + Titihoon in Conversation with Flor Coll
    In Spanish – Conway Hall Library (upstairs)

.

Sole Otero and Titihoon will take a tour through several of their individual works, including graphic novels, story books and zines explaining how and why they use illustration to tell stories. Their individual works have been a means of making diverse topics visible, from health issues and feminism, to magic, fantasy and terror. Sole Otero (Argentina) is an internationally acclaimed graphic novel writer, comic artist, children’s illustrator and winner of the Audience Award from the Angoulême International Comics Festival and 2023. Titihoon (Venezuela) is an illustrator, zine maker and architect winner of a scholarship from the Fondo Nacional de las Artes (Argentina) in 2021. Journalist Flor Coll is the director and founder of femiñetas, an illustrated feminist newspaper in Barcelona.

Sole Otero y Titihoon harán un recorrido por sus propias obras explicando cómo y por qué utilizan la ilustración para contar historias. Sus obras han sido un medio para visibilizar temas diversos, desde la salud mental y el feminismo, a la magia, la fantasía y el terror. Con Flor Coll, directora de femiñetas, periódico feminista en Barcelona.


  • Sat 5th October | 1 pm- 1.45 pm | TALK |
    Virginia Higa
    in Conversation with Graciela Melitsko Thorton
    In Spanish and English – Conway Hall Library (upstairs)

.

Virginia Higa can dwell on both tiny and important things of life making no distinction between intellectual curiosity and sensitive experience, following the path of Hebe Uhart, Natalia Ginzburg and Wisława Szymborska. Descended from Japanese and Italians, Virginia Higa was born in Bahía Blanca, Argentina in 1983. Her first novel, Los Sorrentinos (Sigilo, 2018), collects the pieces of her Italian family in Mar del Plata and tells a novel about an unforgettable character, as well as the men and women of apparent simplicity who star in their own stories of eternal love and profound solitude, deaths, betrayals and songs. The book has been translated into Italian, Swedish, French and soon into Portuguese. Her second book, El hechizo del verano (Sigilo, 2024), recollects her experience of emigrating to Sweden, an invitation to open your eyes and let yourself to be enchanted by humour, intelligence and the enigmatic beauty of words. As a translator, Virginia translated, among others, Ann Beattie, David Abram, Mary Shelley, Julia Armfield and Virginia Woolf. «Virginia Higa knows how to see the beauty in the details and how to draw the arc of a life with a handful of anecdotes.” Vera Giaconi (Anagrama)


  • Sat 5th October | 2 pm – 2.45 pm | TALK |
    The novel: Mirror and Microscope of little great things
    Enzo Maqueira
    + Diego Sánchez Aguilar in Conversation with Santiago Díaz Bravo
    In Spanish – Conway Hall Library (upstairs)

.

Lack of engagement with the reality of urban societies is one of the most widespread criticisms about the contemporary novel in Spanish. Two authors from both sides of the Atlantic, Enzo Maqueira (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1977) and Diego Sánchez Aguilar (Cartagena, Spain, 1974) dramatically dismantle this argument. Works such as Higiene sexual del soltero and Hágase usted mismo (Tusquets) by Enzo Maqueira or Factbook: el libro de los hechos and Los que escuchan (Candaya) by Diego Sánchez Aguilar attest to it. This will be the starting point of a talk chaired by novelist and journalist Santiago Díaz-Bravo (La Orotava, Spain, 1968), author of novels such as God save Froilán and Un secreto a voces (Pie de Página).

La novela: espejo y microscopio de las pequeñas grandes cosas

Una de las críticas más extendidas sobre la novela contemporánea en español es su escaso apego a la realidad de las sociedades urbanas, un argumento que desmontan drásticamente dos autores de ambas orillas del Atlántico; Enzo Maqueira (Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1977) y Diego Sánchez Aguilar (Cartagena, España, 1974). Obras como Higiene sexual del soltero y Hágase usted mismo (Tusquets) por Enzo Maqueira o Factbook: el libro de los hechos y Los que escuchan (Candaya) de Diego Sánchez Aguilar dan fe de ello. Este será el punto de partida de una charla moderada por el escritor y periodista Santiago Díaz-Bravo (La Orotava, España, 1968), autor de novelas como God save Froilán y Un secreto a voces (Pie de Página).


  • Sat 5th October | 3 pm – 3.50 pm | POETRY READING |
    Poetry as an Act of Resistance

    In Spanish and English – Conway Hall Library (upstairs)

In this poetry reading we will discover the powerful connection between the written word and cultural resistance. When is it genuine to turn to poetry as an act of defiance and protest? The participating poets will read their poems referring to longing for justice and freedom, people’s struggles, expression of solidarity, and identity and heritage preservation. Poetry allows social denunciation and questioning of established values, but also the celebration of life. This presentation is the result of a workshop facilitated by Chilean writer Natalia Figueroa Gallardo hosted by La Tundra Revista with the participation of poets Xaviera Ringeling, Elizabeth Salazar Guerra, Mabel Encinas, Isabel Ros López, Walter Willig and Jael de la Luz García.

En este recital de poesía descubriremos la poderosa conexión entre la palabra escrita y la resistencia cultural. ¿Cuándo es genuino recurrir a la poesía como acto de protesta? Los poetas participantes leerán sus poemas haciendo referencia al anhelo de justicia y libertad, a las luchas de los pueblos, a la expresión de la solidaridad y a la preservación de la identidad y el patrimonio. La poesía permite la denuncia social y el cuestionamiento de los valores establecidos, pero también la celebración de la vida. Esta presentación es el resultado de un taller facilitado por la escritora chilena Natalia Figueroa Gallardo organizado por La Tundra Revista con la participación de los poetas Xaviera Ringeling, Elizabeth Salazar Guerra, Mabel Encinas, Isabel Ross, Walter Willig y Jael de la Luz García. (En español e inglés)


CHILDREN AND FAMILIES

.

  • Sat 5th October | 10.30 am to 11.30 am | CHILDREN and FAMILIES |
    The Bestiary of London: Families Writing Workshop
    with writer Karina Lickorish Quinn
    In Spanish and English – Conway Hall (Main Hall / main stage)

In every culture there are mythological monsters that represent the experiences and fears of the community. In this workshop we are going to create our own monsters and place them in London to explore our fears and experiences of the city.

Recommended ages:  Children 5+ and their families. There must be one adult for every two children.

Participants are going to cut and paste images of animals and London, and afterwards they are going to create collages of monsters in the city. They’ll write micro fictions to accompany the images in Spanish/English. The artworks are going to be part of the macro project ‘The Bestiary of London’, an artistic collection that documents in a surreal and creative way the experiences and fears of London communities by Karina Lickorish Quinn.

Karina Lickorish Quinn is a Peruvian-British writer and a Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Royal Holloway University of London. Her debut novel The Dust Never Settles (Oneworld, 2021) explored Peru’s hauntedness by its colonial past. Her second book, a novella called The House of Skin (Stanchion, 2023) is a work of literary horror. Her second novel, The River Dies Quietly, will be published by Oneworld in 2025. Her short prose has been published widely including in Wasafiri, The White Review, The Offing, Palabritas, and the Journal of Latina Critical Feminism. She was featured in Un Nuevo Sol, the first major anthology of British-Latinx writers. Karina is currently editing a special issue of Wasafiri on British Latinx writing and is working on her third novel and a short story collection.

This workshop will take place at the Main Hall of Conway Hall, on the main stage.
Children must be supervised at all times.
Note: There’s a small stair to access the stage (5 steps).

This activity is FREE for ticket’s holders of the London Spanish Book & Zine Fair. Register to attend
Additionally please also register HERE to secure your place into the workshop. 

En cada cultura existen monstruos mitológicos que representan las experiencias y temores de la comunidad. En este taller vamos a crear nuestros propios monstruos y ubicarlos en Londres para explorar cuáles son nuestros temores y experiencias de nuestra ciudad. 

A quiénes está destinado: Familias: Para niños desde los 5 años acompañados por un mayor de edad. Tiene que haber un adulto por cada dos menores de edad. 

Cortando y pegando imágenes de animales y de Londres, vamos a crear escenas de monstruos en la ciudad y escribir micro ficciones para acompañar las imágenes. Las obras van a formar parte del macro proyecto ‘El Bestiario de Londres’, una colección artística que documenta de una forma surrealista y creativa las experiencias y los temores de comunidades londinenses por Karina Lickorish Quinn. Esta actividad es gratuita con su entrada para la London Spanish Book & Zine Fair. Adicionalmente, por favor regístrese aquí para asegurar su espacio en el taller.


  • Sat 5th October | 12 pm to 12.45 pm | CHILDREN |
    Cuentos desde el balcón
    : Storytelling with writer María Quintana Silva
    In Spanish – Conway Hall (Main Hall / Green Room)

Join writer María Quintana Silva in a magical adventure that will make the little ones to travel through the love for books and reading. María was born in Madrid (Spain). After graduating in Audiovisual Communication, she specialized in writing Children’s and Young Adult Literature in Bologna (Italy). Since then she has lived in a fantasy universe. Her books have been included in the List of Best Children’s Books of the Bank Street College of Education (USA) or the Honour List of the OEPLI (Spain). She has won awards such as the gold medal at the Moonbeam Awards (USA) or the Independent Press Award (USA). María speaks four languages, is a passionate reader and enjoys creating stories and magical worlds where everything is possible.

Recommended ages:  Children 3+

This activity will take place at the Green Room (access through the main stage). Children must be supervised at all times. There’s a small stair to access the stage (5 steps).
This activity is FREE for ticket’s holders of the London Spanish Book & Zine Fair. Register to attend
Additionally please also register HERE to secure your place into the storytelling.

Acompaña a la escritora María Quintana Silva en una mágica aventura que hará a los más pequeños viajar a través del amor por los libros y la lectura.

Esta actividad se llevará a cabo en la Green Room (se accede a través del escenario principal). Hay una pequeña escalera para acceder al escenario (5 escalones).
Esta actividad es gratuita con su entrada para la London Spanish Book & Zine Fair pero es necesario registrarse con anticipación.
Adicionalmente, por favor regístrese aquí para asegurar su espacio ya que el aforo es limitado.


  • Sat 5th October | 9 pm to 10.30 am |
    Lira Popular Workshop: Chilean popular poetry with La Charawilla

    In Spanish – Conway Hall Library (upstairs)
    Tickets: £ 10.- (Includes entry to the book fair and talks).

Join us for an incredible poetry workshop session with Chilean improvising music poet and payadora, La Charawilla, who will guide us through the process of crafting a lira popular A lira popular was a nineteenth-century poetic broadsheet, a hand-printed sheet with social commentary written in verse, which today could be compared to a fanzine. This workshop will include: 

  • the technical elements of writing décima strophes and other poetic forms,
  • the historical aspects of these poetic traditions in Hispanic America and Chile,
  • and the collective creation of a modern lira popular

The workshop will be held in the Spanish language.

More about the lira popular:

The “Lira Popular” is a collection of poetry sheets, written by popular urban poets, which circulated massively in large cities and towns of Chile between the end of the 19th century and the first decades of the 20th century. The song in décima (tenths) is one of the most important literary expressions of Chilean popular culture, transmitted orally at the beginning and through thousands of printed sheets that were distributed and shouted at fairs, cities and suburbs.

Described by UNESCO as collections that represent an exceptional and unique documentary heritage of popular poetry, the “Lira Popular”  illustrated the human and the divine revealing the ancestral worldview that shaped traditional peasant culture.

La Charawilla is the stage name of Daniela Sepúlveda, a Chilean singer and payadora who teaches and promotes the Cueca and other traditional Chilean music genres. 


London Spanish Book & Zine Fair
Conway Hall
25 Red Lion Street
London WC1R 4RL

Sat 5th OCT | 10 am to 4 pm

Access Information

Due to the age and Grade Il listing of the Conway Hall building, there is no lift access to the Library on the first floor.

Main Hall (street access, step-free), Hive Cafe (street access, step-free), There is also an accessible toilet on the ground floor opposite the Brockway Room.

Stage and Green Room with a stair (5 steps) to access.


Te puede interesar