Havana, Cuba.-French writer, poet, essayist and philosopher Paul Valery and the French literature are the issues of the program of the first session of the literary forum at the 26th International Book Fair held in Cuba.
The Villena hall at the National Association of Cuban Writers and Artists (UNEAC) will host the event until February 16th.
On occasion of the 100th anniversary of the publication ‘El cementerio marino’ by Valery, the first day of the forum is dedicated to him, in particular, and to French literature, in general, with a panel made up of Enrique Sainz, Patricio Zapata and Alberto Marrero.
During a second day, journalists and writers will remember the life and work of late Cuban writer and essayist, Enrique Cirules, who won the Casa de las Americas Prize in 1993 and the Critics’ Prize in 1994.
A panel composed of Desiderio Navarro, Julio Travieso, Francisco Lopez Sacha and Juan Luis Hernandez, will discuss February 15th on novels, poetry and theater in the Russian literature, as this year marks 100th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution.
A meeting with Irish writers, such as Joseph O’Connor, Colm Toibin, Pura Lopez Colome, Lisa Mclnerney, Michael McCughan and Dermot Keogh, and the presence of Irish President, Michael Higgins, is expected for February 17th.
A panel on the collection of poetry ‘La casa que no existia’, by Cuban writer Lina de Feria, in which scholars Luis Yusef, Aristides Vega, Norge Espinosa and Lourdes Gonzalez, will give a workshop, is planned to close the forum.
The president of the Association of Writers of UNEAC, Alex Pausides, aspires to offer with the forum a space for reflection on world literature.