Reading booths, poetic trees and “book bicycles”, a “book bus”, a reading room, the creation of a collective story and even a literary ring make part of the activities that take place at the open area in front of the Palacio de Bellas Artes as part of the celebration of the World Book Day.
Dozens of people have made presence at this space that began activities at 11:00 am with the making of “Un cuento todos los cuentos” (A Story All the Stories), a collective text based on the work “The Mortals in the House” by Charles Dickens, and with read-aloud sessions of various texts of this English author.
On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of his birth, the author of “Oliver Twist” is the main protagonist of these activities, organized by Conaculta’s Dirección General de Publicaciones (DGP, Publishing General Direction), in coordination with the Instituto Nacional de Bellas Artes (INBA).
Writers, illustrators, journalists, commentators and mediators of Reading Rooms have participated in activities al read-aloud sessions, “Dickens Remix” and “Un Ring de Letras (Letters Ring).
By midday, the main stage gathered cultural authorities like Consuelo Sáizar, Conaculta’s President; Teresa Vicencio, INBA’s Director; Joaquín Diez-Canedo, Fondo de Cultura Económica’s Director; Victórico Albores, CANIEM’s President; Laura Emilia Pacheco, in charge of the DGP; Antonio Tenorio, Radio Educación’s Director, and Socorro Venegas, Deputy Director of Reading and Book Promotion at DGP, who read out loud excerpts of Dickens’ storybook “Para leer al anochecer ”.
When Teresa Vicencio took the floor she affirmed that the Book Day is an event celebrated internationally that aims at promoting reading and literature and at celebrating and reflecting on intellectual property.
“In accordance with the universal spirit behind the celebration of the World Book Day, we have decided to dedicate this festivity to Charles Dickens as part of the events organized to celebrate the 200th anniversary of his birth. Conaculta, INBA and the other institutions hereby represented will carry out a series of activities that will concentrate in this open area throughout the day to commemorate this writer”, were the words of Vicencio.
Until six o’ clock in the evening, the open area of the highest cultural space of the country will offer various activities, like the letter ring where different writers will compete against each other in literary improvisations and read-aloud sessions.