13 important writers to be honored this year with special days and street dedications

Those honored will have streets and passageways in the fairgrounds named after them. There will also be symposiums, readings and discussions in their honor.

The naming of streets in the book fairgrounds after authors or narrators will take place every day during the Book Fair when the program opens each morning at 10:00 a.m.

A total of 13 important writers will be honored this year at the XII International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2009 which will open on April 20 in the Juan Pablo Duarte Culture Plaza.

As is the tradition with this cultural and literary festival, each day Book Fair organizers will honor a different writer in recognition of his or her contribution to the development of literature.

• The first day of the fair, Tuesday April 21, will be dedicated to Carmen Quidiello de Bosch, poet, playwright and author of children’s books. She has also been the promoter and manager of literary supplements.
  
• On Wednesday the 22nd, José Alcántara Almánzar, narrator and literary critic, will be honored this year with the highest distinction in Dominican literature, the National Literary Prize.
  
• Short story writer Luis Martín Gómez will receive his honor on Thursday the 23rd with the naming of a street in the Fair after him. Author of important and prize-winning books, Gómez is considered one of the new and upcoming writers of Dominican literature.
  
• The poet Federico Jóvine Bermúdez, member of the well-known Post-War Generation will be honored on Friday the 24th.
  
• • Playwright Chiqui Vicioso will receive recognition on Saturday the 25th.
  
• Sunday the 26th is the day that poet, narrator, literary researcher and cultural promoter and US resident will be honored.
  
• Well-known journalist Rafael Molina Morillo, will be honored on Monday the 27th in recognition of his work as a writer of important history books and news reports.
  
• Tuesday the 28th will be dedicated to historian Euclides Gutiérrez Félix, author of important books on the life and work of Juan Bosch.
  
• And Wednesday the 29th, well-known Italian literary critic and resident of Puerto Rico, Giovanni di Pietro, will be honored at the Fair. He has written several analytical pieces on Dominican literature.
  
• Historian Juan Daniel Balcácer, winner of last year’s Eduardo León Jimenes National Book Fair Prize for his book on Trujillo, will receive recognition on Thursday the 30th.
  
• On May 1st, which falls on a Friday, Dr. Jottin Cury, will receive recognition as a jurist and author of texts about his specialty.
  
• Narrator Rita Indiana Hernández, a member of the country’s new literary group will receive tribute on Saturday the 2nd as well as the naming of a street in her honor.
  
• And, finally, Sunday the 3rd, the last day of the Book Fair, will be dedicated to prize-winning commentator Rafael García Romero.

The naming of streets in the book fairgrounds after authors or narrators will take place every day during the Book Fair when the program opens each morning at 10:00 a.m. These newly-named streets will maintain their names all year long.

In each activity, students from colleges and public schools will study the honored author’s work and will later participate in symposiums, lectures and discussions that will be held each day in the writer’s honor. This year there is an added novelty: the dedication of each literary personality will be held on the very street which is to bear his/her name.

In all, this year’s Book Fair will recognize 3 narrators, 3 poets, 2 historians and a journalist, a jurist, a literary critic, an essayist and an author of literary dictionaries and a children’s story writer.

The International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2009, in its twelfth year, is dedicated to Juan Bosch as it is the centenary of his birth. Brazil is this year’s special guest of honor.

The Book Fair will take place, as in years past, in the Juan Pablo Duarte Culture Plaza beginning on Monday April 20 until Saturday May 3 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. daily.

Information provided by
General Office of Communication
Ministry of Culture
809 221-4141 Ext. 236