Guadalajara International Book Fair: Karmele Jaio
Euskara. Kultura. Mundura.

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28Nov 202006Dec 2020
Guadalajara
Basque literature will once again have a voice at Latin America’s most important literary event, the International Book Fair (FIL) in Guadalajara, Mexico, which every year brings together thousands of professionals, publishers and authors. Basque author Karmele Jaio will (Vitoria-Gasteiz 1970) participate for the second time at the fair, this time with her successful novel ‘Aitaren etxea’. With support from the Etxepare Basque Institute, Jaio will shine a spotlight on Basque literature. Due to the global pandemic, the fair will be held online from Guadalajara this year from November 28th to December 6th, and will feature some of the most prominent names in current literature.
Jaio, winner of the Euskadi Literature Award 2020 for ‘Aitaren etxea’, will mark nine years of uninterrupted presence of Basque writers at the fair. Kirmen Uribe, Iban Zaldua, Arantxa Urretabizkaia, Bernardo Atxaga, Harkaitz Cano, Mikel Ayerbe, Anjel Lertxundi and Juan Kruz Igerabide make up the list of authors who, with the help of the Etxepare Basque Institute, have represented Basque literature at FIL.
This novel, translated into Spanish by Jaio herself, has three main characters: Ismael, a successful writer in his off-hours who has to take care of his father; his wife Jasone, who has stopped writing; and Libe, Ismael´s sister, who lives abroad. Through them, the novel reflects on the influence that gender has on daily life, and, above all, on the ways in which masculinity is constructed and transmitted.
The writer from the Basque city of Gasteiz will participate in the official programme on Tuesday, December 1st (at 12:30 Central Mexican Time and 19:30 Basque Country Time) in the section ´The readers present´, in which three anonymous readers who have read the work in advance will present ‘Aitaren etxea’ (Destino/Grupo Planeta), and then begin the online dialogue between the writer and the public. The section was created in 2003 to give readers a voice and familiarise them with the featured book. Since then, more than 70 authors have taken part.