The inauguration will take place at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. “A few steps from the historical sites where Mart dreamed of union and the necessary war, the creator of the project told DIARIO LAS AMRICAS.
The idea arose several years ago in the endless nights of conversation with my friend, the historian Gabriel Cartaya, highlighted Sicilia, poet, essayist, literary advisor and cultural promoter, whom some know as El Poeta Del Camín, for his long work life as cargo vehicle driver.
Promote the idea of the fair
Recently arrived in Tampa, Sicilia was looking for kindred spirits to continue developing his ideas of cultural promotion. He found them little by little and with them the idea of the fair was promoted. I got to know a group of artists and intellectuals like Carlos Camargo, Kenya C. Dworkin and others, who joined in like my youth friend Fernando Valdivia, said the intellectual.
The purpose of the literary event in central Florida has many aspects. “We have created an event management company to organize it and we maintain the firm purpose of uniting generations, facilitating exchange with academic institutions, rescuing the love of reading and history, organizing seasonal collateral events and promoting meetings between editors, authors. and translators, explained Alberto Sicilia, who as a writer has published several collections of poems, including In favor of the rock y Miniature with abyss.
Organizers have received significant support for this first call of the fair, despite a lukewarm response when they started knocking on doors.
Support for the proposal of the Cuban writer
In the beginning there was silence and my spirit moved with God and with my friends. Seeing, almost belatedly, that everything was good, the followers began to take shape. The Crculo Cubano and the Hillsborough Community College of Ybor, the department of Latin American and Caribbean studies at the University of South Florida, the Department of Martian Studies at the University of Tampa and finally the city government. Advertisers, sponsors and unconditional support from other local artists and from other cities have also arrived. Messages, calls and notifications arrive at all hours and from various parts of the world. The fair transcends us in space and time, Sicilia detailed.
The event, which is expected to be held annually, will have on this opening day around 25 exhibitors including authors, publishers, some from the Miami area, such as Furtivas, Mi libro Hispano and Primigenios, and other representations such as Tampa Press from the University of Tampa, the Jurado Editorial Group, among others. “The participation of about 150 registered authors from different countries is expected. There will be four face-to-face spaces and a room with a virtual program. To mention them all would be to abuse the editorial staff, to mention two or three is to sin by omission, Sicilia noted.
According to Alberto, the fair activities will take place at the Cuban Club in Ybor City. The entire theoretical event, presentations and sales will be in one of the buildings and courtyards of Hillsborough Community College in the heart of Ybor City.
Representation of Miami
From Miami there will be a solid representation of authors and publishers who travel to Tampa for the event. Some of the authors of the city are Manuel Vázquez Portal, José Hugo Fernández, Josefina Ezpeleta, Ena Columbi, Juan Carlos Mirabal, Carlos Pintado, Eduardo Casanova, Armando de Armas, Nuvia Inés de Estávez, ngel Velázquez, Gastn Virkel, Sindo Pacheco, Rolando Lori, Pilar Vlez, Flix Anesio, Fernando Godo, Jos Fernndez Pequeo, Mara Cristina Fernndez, Joaqun Glvez, Efran Rivern, Ramn Fernndez Larrea and Janisset Rivero.
Other sessions will have authors presenting books in English, including Kerry Kriseman, Gerald Poyo, Aracelis Asendorf and Gren Westfall.
Alberto Sicilia pointed out that the Tampa International Book Fair will be bilingual; Although they try to balance between authors of English expression and Spanish-speaking writers, the latter always prevail in this first management. “Perhaps it is because the majority of the members of the organizing committee are of Hispanic origin.
Spanish-speaking writers such as Juan Carlos Recio, Rolando Morelli, Alejandro Querejeta, Enrique del Risco, Pablo Brescia, Patsy Sánchez and Manuel Sosa will travel from other cities to Tampa to present their works.
From the city of Tampa there will be authors such as Gabriel Cartaya and the creator of the fair himself, the poet Alberto Sicilia, among other writers from the bay area.
Neighborhood in Tampa
Ybor City was founded in 1885 by Vicente Martínez Ybor, a businessman who pioneered the tobacco industry in the Tampa area. The community grew thanks to Cuban, Spanish and Italian immigrants, who settled in the region. Cubans contributed to the independence of Cuba with their donations. Cuban patriots, such as Jos Mart, went to Ybor many times to raise funds for the war.
Today, Ybor City has the charm of a small, welcoming city, full of history. It attracts a lot of tourism and at night it has a strong youth scene with cafes, music, restaurants and spaces for lovers of smoking cigars.
The College Campus where the fair will take place is just two blocks from 7th Street. avenue, right in front of the Cuban Circle; Although small, its patios are beautiful and shady, described Alberto Sicilia.
Activities
The organizer anticipated some of the events that will take place during the fair, such as virtual panels and an intense day of activities and children’s literature.
I would like to invite everyone to travel to Tampa. I consider it to be an event of significance that provides the opportunity for reunion between friends. We have arranged some spaces of silence and optional activities so that guests can enjoy the night. There are two open microphone sessions for readings and an exhibition of twisters who can clap to the rhythm of the cutting keys. We will tell new generations about snuff readers and their significance in the expansion of knowledge, progress and freedom, Sicilia emphasized.
The first Tampa International Book Fair will take place Thursday, March 7 through Sunday, March 10, beginning in the morning and ending in the evening, at Hillsborough Community College, 2001 N 14th St., Tampa, 33605.
