Instituto Cervantes celebrated Book Day by honoring Philippine literature in Spanish

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Last Saturday, April 22, the Instituto Cervantes in Manila celebrated the International Book Day with a recital of Filipino poetry in Spanish, a language which, although almost extinct in the Archipelago, is the language in which written literature in the Philippines was born.

The Día del Libro (Book Day), whose celebration was first introduced in the Philippines by the Instituto Cervantes in 2006, was inaugurated this year with the premiere of a video in which, thanks to the collaboration of the embassies of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, Venezuela and Spain in the Philippines, more than thirty Spanish speakers from various continents recited the poem "Canto del viajero", by José Rizal. The video can be viewed on the Instituto Cervantes’ YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/InstitutoCervantesManila). According to the director of Instituto Cervantes, Javier Galván, this intiative aims "to highlight, through the variety of Spanish accents, the richness of Filipino poetry in Spanish, specifically that of Rizal, the great Filipino classic, who created his works in Spanish".

The Instituto Cervantes has been immersed for years in a campaign that tries, on the one hand, to encourage young Filipino authors to write in Spanish through creative-writing workshops, and on the other hand, to increase awareness of the Filipino literary heritage in Spanish. The Miguel Hernández Library of the Spanish cultural center has managed to gather a valuable section of Filipiniana resources. And in 2006, the center inaugurated the Hispanic-Filipino Classics collection, through which it has been possible to rescue out-of-print works such as Cuentos de Juana, by Adelina Gurrea, or lost titles such as Los pájaros de fuego, by the Manileño Jesús Balmori.

A new step in this effort to recover the memory of Spanish in the Philippines is the Philhispanic Poetry Recital. Through the second edition of this recital, which was recorded during the Día del Libro and will soon be posted on the Instituto Cervantes’ YouTube channel, the Spanish cultural center invited poetry aficionados to recite poems written in Spanish by Filipino writers, whether classics like Rizal or contemporaries like Guillermo Gomez Rivera, Daisy Lopez, or Wystan de la Peña.

Conceived as a celebration of books, Instituto Cervantes’ Día del Libro was not limited to the Philhispanic poetry recital. From 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., those attending the cultural day were able to enjoy activities for children, games, storytelling sessions, book presentations, book signings, art exhibitions, free Spanish classes, gastronomy, and talks and discussions by Filipino leading writers such as Jessica Zafra, Vicente García Groyon, Glenn Diaz, among others. To cap off the event, there was a concert by the band Talahib People's Music.

There was also the traditional book market, with the presence of Manila's leading bookstores and publishers, which displayed their offer of books at a 20% discount at the Instituto Cervantes’ facilities in Intramuros. Following the Spanish tradition, the booksellers gifted the public with roses.

In addition, to commemorate Miguel de Cervantes Day, Instituto Cervantes challenged visitors to join in a quixotic attempt: to handwrite Don Quijote de La Mancha. The final handwritten book will be deposited in the Instituto Cervantes’ Library. Scenes of the Book Day can be seen in the Instagram site (https://www.instagram.com/institutocervantesmanila) and Facebook page of Instituto Cervantes Manila: https://www.facebook.com/InstitutoCervantesManila.

Organized by the Instituto Cervantes in collaboration with the Embassy of Spain in the Philippines and Intramuros Administration, the Día del Libro was supported by the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines, the Spanish Ministry of Education, the Embassies of Argentina, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Panama and Venezuela, as well as the Alejandro Roemmers Ibero-American Chair of Cultural and Creative Industries of the Miguel Hernandez University (Spain). Participating bookstores and publishing houses included Ateneo University Press, Milflores Publishing, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, Vibal Publishing, Far Eastern University Publications, Ortigas Foundation, Kahel Press, and Artbooks.ph.



Caption to cover photo: Mr. Javier Galván, Instituto Cervantes Director / H.E. Ricardo Bocalandro, Ambassador of Argentina / H.E. Marcela Ordóñez, Ambassador of Colobia / H.E. Miguel Utray, Ambassador of Spain / H.E. Álvaro Jara, Ambassador of Chile / Mr. Richard Gregorio Espinoza, Counsellor, Embassy of Venezuela / Mr. Marcos Octavio Vara, Head of Cultural Affairs, Embassy of Mexico.

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