A Visit to the Cuba Book Fair in Pictures
Photo Feature by Juan Suarez
HAVANA TIMES – Over the last few decades Cuba holds an annual book fair that starts in Havana and then travels around the country. While book publishing is suffering due to the economic crisis affecting most sectors of Cuban life, there are still a number of works that get a print edition, albeit a smaller run than in the past. There is also an uptick of digital books offered.
The book fair in recent years has put a big emphasis on children’s literature, which is very notable in the pictures we bring you. However, the prices of these and other books for adults, while still subsidized, are relatively high now for the depressed wages people earn. There was a time when books were very inexpensive.
A sign of the times is that you see a lot of visitors to the fair, held at the San Carlos de la Cabaña fortress across Havana Bay, with few or no books in their hands. It was just the opposite in years gone by.
Nonetheless, it’s a nice family outing that many Havana residents and foreign visitors take advantage of.
These pictures were taken on Saturday February 18th. The Havana segment of the Cuba Book Fair, which began on February 9th, ends today, the 19th.
I remember in my childhood I used to go with my family to these book fairs, once they bought a saga of books, the Animorph, and I did not want to read it because they were 6 huge books, it was not until I was about 15 years old that I wanted to read those books. Unfortunately, I could not read the whole saga because one of the books was damaged by termites.