Colombian authors to take center stage at Seoul book fair

Visitors to the Bogota International Book Fair check Korean books at the Korean Pavilion at Corferias in Bogota, Colombia, last week. Korea was invited to the second-largest book fair in Latin America as a guest of honor and Colombia will present its literature as a guest of honor at the Seoul International Book Fair in June in celebration of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries. Courtesy of Bogota International Book Fair

By Kwon Mee-yoo

Korea and Colombia are strengthening ties through literature as the two countries commemorate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.

Seoul was the first to dispatch a group of authors to the 2022 Bogota International Book Fair, which ran from April 19 to May 2, and Colombian writers will attend the Seoul International Book Fair (SIBF) from June 1 to 5 as guests of honor.

Colombian Ambassador to Korea Juan Carlos Caiza said the two countries' relations began in the 1950-53 Korean War, but have since expanded to culture and innovation during a press conference announcing the two countries' book fairs.

"It is a good moment to commemorate the relations between Korea and Colombia in cultural area, which makes us able to get to know each other better and share cultures despite the 15,000 kilometers of distance," Ambassador Caiza said.

The ambassador said the COVID-19 pandemic taught him that despite the physical distance between Colombia and Korea, the two countries have proven that they can be closer through exchanges, especially culture.

"That is why we are participating in two international book fairs in Bogota and Seoul. More Colombians and Latin Americans will learn about Korean culture there and more Koreans will learn about Latin American culture and Spanish language. This exchange is going to be epoch-making in public diplomacy between Colombia and Korea," he said.

Colombia is the guest of honor of the SIBF this year, for the first time as a Latin American country.

Under the theme of "Colombia: Creative, Diverse and Fraternal," a total of 21 Colombian authors, including three living in Korea, will take part in Korea's largest book fair to showcase the multifaceted charms of Colombian literature. All participants have at least one work translated into Korean, reaching out to wider Korean audiences.

The Colombian Pavilion will present an array of Colombian literature and illustration, providing opportunities to know more about the Latin American country.

Some of the works will be translated from Spanish to Korean and unveiled at the SIBF for the first time. Among the first-ever translated works are Gabriel Garcia Marquez's "Journey through Eastern Europe," Fernando Vallejo's "Our Lady of the Assassins," Juan Gabriel Vasquez's "The Shape of the Ruins" and Jose Eustasio Rivera's "The Vortex."

A graphic for Colombia as guest of honor at the Seoul International Book Fair slated for June 1 to 5 / Courtesy of Embassy of Colombia in Korea

In addition to the guest of honor pavilion, special programs will highlight literary figures of Colombia.

In Colombia, many female authors have risen to prominence and the "Contemporary Colombian Women Writers" session will discuss the achievements and roles of female writers. Ana Roda, director of the Network of Public Libraries of Banco de la Republica, will moderate the session featuring Laura Ortiz and Margarita Garcia Robayo on June 1.

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Marquez's Nobel Prize in literature, Jaime Abello, director of the Gabo Foundation founded by Marquez, will trace the journey of the most popular Colombian writer in Korea with Song Byung-sun, who translated Marquez's works to Korean, in a talk session on June 2 moderated by Carmen Elisa Acosta, a literary professor at the National University of Colombia.

On June 3, Colombian novelists Andres Felipe Solano and Santiago Gamboa will share their experiences of reaching out to the world through their books in the "Contemporary Colombian Literature around the World" session.

Anthologies of Colombian short stories and poetry are published in Korea on the occasion of the SIBF, just like Korea did the same at the Bogota fair. Novelist Solano, who edited the anthology, will moderate a session on similarities and differences between Colombian and Korean literature based on the anthology and Colombian authors Laura Ortiz and Margarita Garcia Robayo as well as Korean novelists Choi Eun-young and Kang Hwa-gil will participate in the discussion on June 4.

The invited Colombian exhibitors are diverse, including ethnic minorities from different regions of Colombia. On June 5, "Voices of Diversity" session will introduce the diversity of Colombian writers. Miguel Rocha, a writer and researcher of indigenous literatures of Latin America, Fredy Chicangana, an indigenous poet who writes in Spanish and Quechua, and Romulo Bustos, a poet from the Colombian Caribbean, will discuss ethnic, regional and cultural diversity in Colombian literature.