Venezuela celebrated World Book Day last Wednesday, April 23rd. Events in Caracas included readings of poems by Miguel Otero Silva (1908-1985) and a lecture by one of Venezuela’s most famous living poets, Ramón Palomares.
Now, the cultural center funded by the state oil company PDVSA is hosting a book fair at which hundreds of titles ranging from popular fiction to educational texts will be available to the public at low costs.
The idea behind the book fair is to democratize access to cultural production in Venezuela. Article 98 of the constitution reads: “Cultural creation is free. This freedom includes the right to invest in, produce and disseminate creative, scientific, technical and humanistic work.”
Several state programs have been created in Venezuela to promote reading and education, such as the literacy program Mision Robinson and the book publisher El Perro y la Rana. Last year, a university in Merida began sending mobile libraries out to rural communities using mules! Read a BBC article here.
