First Stage of the Cuba 2010 Int’l Book Fair Winds up in Havana

The fist prize of the continental literary contest went to Venezuelan Soleidis del Valle for her book Percusión y tomates (Percussion and tomatoes), while second prize was given to Argentinean Juan Pablo Fiorenza for Verde Alicia.

The ceremony was attended by Cuban Culture Minister Abel Prieto, Russia’s Deputy Culture Minister Pavel Joroshilov, and Russian ambassador to Cuba, Mikhail L. Kamynin, among other personalities.

The pavilion of the “guest of honor” country, Russia, was selected as Best Foreign Stand for the wide variety of offers presented, while the jury decided to give a mention to the Mercier Group.

Gente Nueva won first prize in the national stands category. This Cuban publishing house donated its exhibition materials to the children’s and oncological hospitals, while first mention went to the Center for Marti Studies and a second one to Ediciones Vigía, the publishing house of Matanzas province.

Kamynin thanked all those who participated in the organization of the event and expressed his appreciation for the support given to his country as guest of honor nation. He said one of the outcomes of the Fair was that it revived Russian culture in Cuba, and promised that his country will continue participating in the International Book Fairs in Havana. According to the President of the Cuban Book Institute, Zuleica Romay, the Fair was visited by more than 450,000 people and over 900,000 copies of some 2,000 titles were sold.

Romay announced that, in two days, the event will be opened in another 15 Cuban cities across the country. It will be firstly held in Havana province’s 19 municipalities, being the town of Güines its main venue, to then be expanded to the rest of the island through March 7.