WashU Libraries at the Guadalajara International Book Fair

Each year, by the end of November, the city of Guadalajara, in the state of Jalisco, Mexico, becomes the epicenter of the Spanish-speaking literary and publishing world. The Feria International del Libro (FIL), or The Guadalajara International Book Fair, represents the world’s largest book fair for Spanish-language publications, the most important cultural and literary festival in Latin America, as well as a unique opportunity for networking and business opportunities for anything related to the literary creation and the publishing industry for the Spanish-speaking world.

Since its inception in 1987, FIL has grown into one of the largest and most influential literary gatherings in the Spanish-speaking world, drawing attention not only for its vast array of books but also for its celebration of culture, ideas, and the power of the written word. The fair’s appeal extends beyond books and the written word. FIL is a festival that includes music, art, film, and performance, celebrating culture in all its forms. Visitors of all ages can enjoy art exhibitions, attend concerts, or watch screenings of films that reflect the themes explored in the books on display. It’s a place where literature blends seamlessly with other forms of artistic expression, creating a dynamic and inclusive atmosphere.

Just a few numbers to give an idea of the scale of FIL 2024 which lasted from Nov 29 to Dec 7:

• 907,300 people attended the fair;
• 2,763 publishing houses exhibited at the fair;
• 64 countries were represented at the fair;
• 18,100 book professionals attended the fair;
• 2,714 journalists were credentialed at the fair;
• 194,239 people attended the FIL Niños program;
• The calendar included over 3,000 events.

Like in 2022, also this year, I represented WashU Libraries at this incredible event, in my role as the Subject Librarian for Romance Languages and Literatures, Latin American studies, and Linguistics. During the five days I spent at FIL 2024, I contacted many Latin American publishing companies and purchased around 260 books for our collections. Thanks to the productive engagement of faculty and graduate students, from whom I requested suggestions for topics, authors, titles, and publishers, I was able to select and purchase books to enrich our collections, align them with the research being done at WashU, and provide access to the scholarly and literary production of Central and Latin America—ultimately the main goal of such collection development and purchasing trips.

The purchased books range from recent scholarly publications on political science, literary and cultural studies, and gender and women’s studies, to women poets from Spanish-speaking countries. I successfully secured a copy of an out-of-print anthology of Mexican poet Nahui Olin published in 2011 by the Universidade Autónoma de Nuevo León. At the fair, I also established productive and enriching contacts with publishers, vendors, and associations of independent booksellers from almost all Latin American countries.

Such a collection development trip was possible due to the generous support of WashU Libraries, along with the American Library Association FIL Free Pass Program. It was an incredible experience that reinforced for me the vitality of the cultural production of the Spanish-speaking world and strengthened my desire to bring to WashU Libraries and its academic community as much as possible of that cultural production.

As soon as the volumes arrive and are processed, cataloged, and added to our collection, it will be possible to search for them in the Classic Catalog using “Guadalajara Book Fair November 2024 Collection” as the search phrase.

Photos from the Feria International del Libro