Seven independent Asturian bookstores will host, during the months of June and September, meetings between authors in the sixth edition of the program ‘Afindades Electives. Literary encounters in bookshops’.
The initiative, launched in 2020 by the Ministry of Culture through the General Directorate of Books, Comics and Reading, consists of the dialogue between two creators, selected by the library that organizes the activity, and who write in different languages of Spain. In the conversations it is proposed to each author to investigate the work and the work of the other, looking for similarities, connections or divergent paths.
The meetings scheduled in Asturias will take place from June 26 to September 27 in the following independent bookshops:
- Treito, with Noemí Sabugal (Spanish) and Xaime Martínez (Asturian), on July 25
- Matadero Uno, with Abel Aparicio (Spanish) and Arantza Margolles (Asturian), on September 12
- La madriguera, with Irma Borges (Spanish) and Pablo Fraile (Asturian), on September 13
- Kafka & Co, with Alba Cid (Galician) and Xaime Martínez (Asturian), on September 13
- La Pilarica, with Francisco Prigue (Asturian) and Emma del Pilar Pedreira (Galician), on September 25
- La crisálida, with Àngels Gregori (Valencian) and Daniel García (Asturian), on September 26
- La revoltosa, with Uxue Alberdi (Basque) and Francisco Álvarez (Asturian), on September 27
These activities are freely accessible and free for the interested public.
About ‘Elective affinities’
The main objectives of this program are to promote the activity in independent libraries and to value the linguistic plurality of our country, promoting dialogue and contributing to the dissemination of literature from different territories.
A total of 130 authors, 65 women and 65 men, will participate in this edition, with the aim of promoting parity in the sector. Some names that will be part of the program this year are Mario Obrero, Clara Usón, Xesús Fraga, Katixa Agirre, Ismael Ramos and Luz Pichel.
Thus, a diverse program has been formed in which authors will meet with works in Spanish, Galician, Catalan, Basque, Asturian, Valencian and Aragonese, and representatives of various literary genres: narrative, poetry, essay and illustration.
As for the geographical distribution, in addition to the seven meetings in Asturias, there will be eighteen in Galicia, nine in the Valencian Community, seven in Andalusia, six in Castile and Leon, five in the Community of Madrid, four in Catalonia, three in the Basque Country, three in Aragon, and one in the Canary Islands, Cantabria, the Balearic Islands and the Region of Murcia, respectively.