37 New Publications From the Ministry of Culture

A total of 37 new books will be put into circulation by the publishing unit of the Secretary of State for Culture at the 11th International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2008 which will open on April 21.

The International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2008, in its eleventh edition, will be dedicated this year to Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi, the Dominican Republic’s most prolific of historians. The Guest of Honor this year will be the Association of Caribbean States.

The books being published this year for the Book Fair belong to the publishing unit of the Culture Ministry: National Publishing House, Ferilibro Publishing and Secretary of State for Culture Publishing. In addition, there is Angeles de Fierro, a non-profit publisher established in San Francisco de Macorís and financed by the Culture Ministry to publish writers in the northern part of the country and Rumbo Sur, a new publishing label created to publish and distribute the work of writers in the southern region.

Ferilibro Publishing

Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi, to whom this year’s book fair is dedicated, is the protagonist of one of these books. Historian Héctor Luis Martínez has prepared two selected anthologies titled “Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi: History, Art and Culture.” One is printed as a traditional deluxe hardcover and one is in paperback. Martínez selected the text and wrote the introduction to the book.

“The History of the Caribbean” by Frank Moya Pons, considered the key book at the event in that the Association of Caribbean States is to be the Guest of Honor at the fair.

The remaining book titles to be presented at this cultural festival are the following:

• “Colloquiums 2008 The traditional collection of speeches that were given at the 2007 Book Fair
• “Amoricidio,” by Rey Andújar. Winner of the International Short Story from a Young Person Award from the 2007 Book Fair
• “The Night Will Hurt Us,” by Romina Bayo. International Youth Poetry Prize from the 2007 Book Fair.
• “Betún Melancholy” by René Rodríguez Soriano. Complete Collection of Short Stories. In previous years, the complete short stories of Pedro Peix and Iván García Guerra were published.
• Tenths Awarded by Radio Santa María. An homage to authors from various areas around the country and to the traditional contest sponsored by the popular Catholic Radio Station in La Vega.

National Publishing House

The National Publishing House is presenting two important titles: “Anthology,” by Cayo Claudio Espinal, a large selection of the poetic works of this important writer. And “To the Shadow of the Flamboyan Tree,” by Dinorah Coronado, winning book of the Letters Prize of Ultramar 2007, held under the auspices of the Secretary of State for Culture through the Dominican Commission of Culture in the United States for Dominican writers living in the Diaspora.

SEC Publishers

This Ministry of Culture Publisher is presenting these three books at the Book Fair:

• “The Profound Link,” is a series of essays by Bruno Rosario Candelier, winner of the National Prize for Literature 2008.
• “This is Santo Domingo. The City in Poetry”, by Soledad Álvarez, an important compendium of texts about the city of Santo Domingo.
• “Memories of Lieutenant Veneno”, by Abelardo Vicioso, a previously unpublished novel by the late poet and member of the Generation of ‘48, to whom the Book Fair will dedicate one of its days.

Ángeles de Fierro

The Ángeles de Fierro Publisher, with financing from the Culture Ministry, is publishing the following titles:

• “Dance of Suicide”, by Pedro Ovalles.
• “Reflection of the Routes”, by Albani Aquino.
• “By the Light of the Poets”, by Ernesto Vantroy.
• “Black Stockings”, by Patricia Minaya.
• “Sarat’s Decision and Other Stories”, by Santiago Núñez.
• “Urban Gardens”, by Arlyn D. Abreu and Carlos Núñez.
• “Testimony”, by Arelis Albino.
• “Jando: The New York Man/ Novel Film”, by Francisco Nolasco Cordero, a novel published posthumously by the well-known French-Macorisan writer who died last year.

Rumbo Sur

This new Publisher, supported by the Ministry of Culture will present 12 volumes published last year with writers exclusively from the southern region of the country, many of whom are seeing their work in print for the first time. They include the following:

• “For Our Own Good”, stories by Orlando Alcántara (San Cristóbal).
• “Contraolvido”, an anthology of stories by Mercedes Castillo (San Cristóbal).
• “Tríptico”, short narratives by Ismael Díaz Melo (Baní).
• “Huge Shadow”, stories by Luis Terko Vargas (Azua).
• “Tripage”, an anthology of poets from Azua by Rannel Báez (Azua).
• “Gray Matter”, poems by Franklin Mejía (San José de Ocoa).

• “Along the Southern Roads”, essays about towns in the South by Ariel Acosta Cuevas (Neyba).
• “Between Stories and Poems, Two Generations”, an anthology by Oscar Acosta (Neyba).
• “Poems in Microsurco”, an anthology by Rafael E. Caamaño (Elías Piña).
• “Miss Victoria”, stories by Casandro Fortuna (San Juan de la Maguana).
• “Confidences”, poems by Héctor Vinicio Solano (San Juan de la Maguana).
• “In the Prison of Time”, poems by Sobiesky de León (San Juan de la Maguana).

Joint Publishing

In addition to these books, there have been other joint publishing efforts with writers and international foundations.

• “The Great Caribbean. Just One Sea and 12 Nobel Prizes”, a selection of texts edited in Spanish and French, especially for the Book Fair, and published by Ferilibro and the Association of Caribbean States.
• “The Machine of the Look”, by Susana Vellegia, winner of the Essay on Film in Latin America and the Caribbean. Published by the Ministry of Culture Publishing in conjunction with the Foundation for New Latin American Film presided over by Gabriel García Márquez.
• “Dienteleche 2008”, a traditional selection of children’s stories by Dominican and Cuban authors published since 1997 in conjunction with Ferilibro Publishing and the Writers Union of Cuba (UNEAC). This year there will be a collection of children’s books by writers from Puerto Rico, making this an important area for the promotion of children’s literature from the Upper Antilles. The Dominican authors selected this year are Dulce Elvira de los Santos and Elizabeth Balaguer.
• “The Golden Horn. Domincian Tales of Infidelity”, by Eulogio Javier, published by Ferilibro along with Letra Negra Publishers of Guatemala.

These 37 books will be presented on April 17 in the Ramón Oviedo Art Hall of the Ministry of Culture in an act scheduled to take place at 6:00 p.m. After that, they will be presented individually within the Book Fair program.

The International Book Fair of Santo Domingo 2008, in its eleventh edition, will be dedicated this year to Emilio Rodríguez Demorizi, the Dominican Republic’s most prolific of historians. The Guest of Honor this year will be the Association of Caribbean States. The central themes of this year’s Book Fair will be the Caribbean, History, Love Poetry and the Promotion of Reading.

The Book Fair, as in the past, will be held in the Juan Pablo Duarte Culture Plaza beginning on Monday April 21 to Sunday May 4. The Fair will be open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.