If on the same day, back in 1616, the deaths of the great pens of Cervantes, Shakespeare and the Peruvian Inca Garcilaso de la Vega coincided, that date had to be marked for posterity. And so it has done: on April 23 International Book Day is celebrated, a symbolic day for world literature in which the virtues of letters are celebrated and activities are proposed for it. In the Region of Murcia, several municipalities have opted to commemorate the date for more than a week with a multitude of plans, such as meetings with authors, workshops, readings, concerts and children’s games. This is the literary festival that they propose in Cartagena, Murcia, Molina, Cabo de Palos, Lorca and Santomera:
Meetings of writers and works
In the port city they have extended the celebration of Book Day to more than ten days that bring together about twenty activities throughout the municipality. From April 14 to April 26, Cartagena’s literary program has workshops, author meetings, readings, and book presentations. This weekend, the tribute to books begins this afternoon at 6:30 p.m. with a chained reading of literary texts under the name ‘Voices for the refuge’, enlivened by the Aventis musical quintet, and a children’s workshop on bookends and pencil holders with recycled materials.
The celebration of the XI Literary Meeting of Authors of Cartagena, located in the Museum of the Roman Theater, stands out. In this framework, the presentation of the novel ‘What spring does with the cherries’, by Marta Robles will take place today; and on Saturday ‘Blood Debt’, by Ismael Orcero Marín, and ‘What the Rain Drags’, by Men Marías. Finally, Sunday is the time to enjoy with the family with the activities proposed by Oxigenarte in the Parque de los Juncos and the concert of stories, poetry and tales with La Chica Charcos & The Katiuskas Band.
A concert with literary cadences
After a whole week commemorating Book Day with different activities, the Regional Library of Murcia wants to put the finishing touch to its special program with a concert performed by the Youth Orchestra of the Region of Murcia quartet, with two violins, viola and cello. In the event, it will be possible to listen to musical pieces with literary resonances, most appropriate for the occasion, such as the arrangement for quartet of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ by S. Prokofiev, and a quartet by Schubert based on the poem ‘Death and maiden’, by M. Claudius. The concert will put music to the award ceremony for the ‘BRMU Honorary Members’, those who stand out for their work in the field of literature and in promoting reading. On this occasion they are: Luis Leante, Luis Escavy, Lola Tórtola, Ilu Ros and the Soy Como Tú foundation.
In addition, Manuel Madrid, head of Cultures at LA VERDAD, is offering a guided tour of the exhibition ‘José Ballester. An innovator in cultural journalism’, carried out on the occasion of the Centenary of the Literary Supplement (1923-1926) of this newspaper at the Ramón Gaya Museum.
The Youth Orchestra offers a concert with literary airs at the Regional Library
‘Yinkhanas’, cooking and Eloy Moreno
In Molina de Segura they have devised an initiative to bring literature to the entire city on the occasion of Book Day: ‘I hope… reading’. It is about distributing boxes with books donated from libraries to the City Hall and health centers so that citizens can read while they wait to be treated. This is just the novelty this year around the activities for Book Day, which run from April 17 to 29. After the first events, the cycle ‘Writers in their ink’ continues, at the Salvador García Aguilar Library, the 17th edition of these conferences that aim to promote the habit of reading in the population and turn Molina de Segura into a literary benchmark. Today they have the presence of Eloy Moreno, a writer who began as a computer scientist and who, after turning to letters, has already sold more than 1.5 million copies in more than one hundred countries.
For this afternoon, the Mercedes Mendoza Library has planned a cooking workshop in literature, under the name ‘Cocinoterapia by Delia’, which uses cooking as a leisure, learning and fun activity. In addition, the little ones can have fun in the ‘Yinkhanas about stories’, which will take place today and tomorrow at the Salvador García Aguilar Library, an opportunity to play passing tests and achieving challenges related to stories so that children soak up the benefits from the books.
poetry for all ages
The mouth of the Port of Cabo de Palos hosts this Sunday, on the occasion of World Book Day, the cycle ‘Poesía a mares’, designed for the people and groups that live in the area all year round and for tourists, to whom we offer a space for ecological and social awareness, because there is nothing like poetry to raise awareness about the natural wealth of the Cartagena coastline and the need to preserve it. The cycle seeks to attract a young, family-oriented and diverse audience with original formats such as ‘Poetry Sound System’ for a poetic parade, a children’s recital, a talking café, workshops, recitals, concerts and a fair for local groups, a mobile bookstore and stalls of food, to spend a most special literary day.
Among the authors present in the cycle will be the Barcelona table music duo ¡Ual.la!, the presenter of La 2 Dani Orviz, the children’s poet Miguel Alayrach, as well as regional authors such as Antonio Marín Albalate, Beatriz Miralles or José Daniel Espejo, awarded as the Best Murcian Book of 2020.
Eloy Moreno is one of the ‘Writers in their ink’ that will go through the Molina de Segura cycle today
Collective readings in the Library
Also in the City of the Sun they have wanted to echo this international day with a wide program that children and adults will enjoy. On the one hand, they have opted for collective readings at the Pilar Barnés Library. There today they will delve into the universe of ‘Alice in Wonderland’ (10 hours) and will give ‘Around the World in 80 Days’ (18 hours), by Jules Verne in Easy Reading version. In addition, outside the city limits, the activities continue on Saturday at 10:30 am with a guided visit to the Rincón de Almendricos argaric site.
There is also a place for book presentations, specifically that of Agustín Fernández Mallo, today at 8:00 p.m. in the Futuro Imperfecto bookstore. The writer, one of the most prominent members of the so-called ‘Nocilla Generation’, is also a physicist, and has come to present his novel ‘The Shape of the Multitude’, an essay on types of capitalism.
From April 21 to 30 Santomera celebrates the XXXI edition of its Book Fair. The Plaza de la Salud hosts this meeting space between books, authors and readers with various activities. During this first weekend there will be various storytelling, a hiking route, theater shows, among other activities, the book signing of Victoria Sánchez, author of ‘Murcia loves indie’, in a musical session by DJ Vinxenxo, the Friday; the presentation of ‘The cinema in Santomera: notes for its history II’, by Blas Rubio, official chronicler of the municipality, on Saturday; and the presentation of the collection of poems ‘La víspera’, by Cecilio Hernández, on Sunday. All programming on the website santomera.es.
A set of activities in the Region to not stop delighting in the world of letters.
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