Page 177 - Results 2015: AC/E Programme for the Internationalization of Spanish Culture

LITERATUREintErViEW177/bring world literature to Puerto Rico. e objective is to strengthen Puerto Rican readership and penetrate the education system (every year we organise encounters with writers for over ve thousand students), to help with the circulation and publishing of books and to heighten the use of Spanish as an instrument of national identity and international communication.Q - What is AC/E’s role in getting Spanish writers involved?A - It’s an important one, as the festival does not belong to any government or public institution. It is an independent festival and is organised by a non-pro t making association, the Libroamérica Literary Fair [Salón Literario Libroamérica], which lacks its own funding. It canonly exist, therefore, with the supportof both public institutions and private enterprise. e Puerto Rican authorities understand the importance of the festival and have supported us right from thestart. Nevertheless, precisely because of its International projection, support from institutions from other countries, is fundamental, such as that received from AC/E, helping Spanish literature to be represented in the festival.Q - Which writers are those and why those ones in particular?A - Spanish representation is particularly high this year. With the aid of AC/E, we have Esther Bendahan, Luisgé Martin, Ignacio del Valle, Paloma González Rubio, Enrique de Hériz, Alfonso Mateo Sagasta, Ismael Martínez Biurrún, Elia Barceló, Berna González Harbour and María Ángeles Pérez López. We also have two Latin American creators with double nationality: the Peruvian writer FernandoIwasaki and the Cuban singer-songwriter Pável Urkiza, demonstrating the festival’s open mindedness concerning the scope of Spanish culture. Other participatnts incluye not only writers, such as José Ovejero, Ricardo Menéndez Salmón and Fermín Goñi, but also the lm producer José Nolla. It is a rich and varied roster. Each witha di erent vision and style, they o er a wide artistic scope against the crisis facing Spanish literature and art.Q - Is this the rst edition to experience such collaboration or has it happened before?A - We’ve already received support in previous editions from AC/E and, before that, from the International Cooperation Agency, the Directorate General for Books and the Cervantes Institute; and always from the Spanish Consulate in San Juan. e support the festival has received from Spanish institutions has been constantand that, in my hat as a Spanish writer, is something to be grateful and proud about.Q - What is the view of the Spanish literary stage from Central America in general and Puerto Rico in particular?A - In Puerto Rico’s geographical region, which is the Caribbean, there is really a lot of interest in Spanish literature. I’ve noticed this from attending fairs and other events in Cuba or in the Dominican Republic. I also see it every year in Puerto Rico, with each new edition of the Festival of the Word. ere’s evident interest here for literature from Spain and for Spanish language writing from the rest of Latin America. And that goes back a long way; from the times of the great Spanish authors in exile in Puerto Rico after the civil war, such as Pedro Salinas, whose grave can be found in