^{Rubén Padilla}

This is the last podcast episode I am recording before the end of this crazy, intense, and just straight out tough year that 2020 turned out to be.

I just wanted to pause here and say thank you to the guests of all 26 episodes I’ve recorded so far. I really appreciate that you set aside some of your precious time to talk with me, sometimes during quite stressful moments. This was especially the case for the episodes I recorded early on in the pandemic, when there was so much more uncertainty than there is now.

I also wanted to say thank you to all you listeners. On the day I am publishing this episode (December 22nd), we are approaching no less than 6,000 plays!

It’s been an amazing journey and I’ve learned so much. Recording these podcast episodes has turned out to be the second best thing to meeting people at international book fairs, which I do hope we can go back to again very soon in the New Year as I miss seeing you all…

On today’s episode I’m joined by Rubén Padilla of the Guadalajara International Book Fair, also known as the FIL. This book fair was one of the last, if not the last of the year. Like many events that took place this year, it went fully digital.

I was curious to hear Rubén’s impressions and experiences, especially since the FIL is very much a public fair, besides providing a trade program for international publishing professionals.

In fact I learned during the interview that it was created for the public, to give people an opportunity to buy books, as the city of Guadalajara was lacking bookstores at the time.

Having a chat with Rubén was a wonderful way to end this year and I hope you’ll enjoy it too!

Here are some of the questions I asked Rubén:

• How long have you been working for the FIL, and can you give us a brief presentation of this fair?
• What was the digital edition of the FIL like? It is such an important public event as well, besides the professional programming. Were there programs both for the public and for professionals?
• Are you and your colleagues happy with the results of the digital programs?
• The FIL usually invites one country, or one linguistic area to be the guest of honor each year. Who was this year’s guest of honor?
• What does being a guest of honor at the FIL consist of?
• Did you postpone the guest of honor program to next year or did you just go ahead with it but in a digital format?

Show Notes

• Rubén’s book recommendations:

– Cometierra by Dolores Reyes (Sigilo for the Spanish (ex USA) edition; to be published as Eartheater in English, translated by Julia Sanches, with HarperVia in September 2021)

– Un corazón demasiado grande by Eider Rodriguez (Literatura Random House for the Spanish edition, we haven’t found information on a possible forthcoming English edition, feel free to let us know if there is one!)

– Las Malas by Camila Sosa (Tusquets for the Spanish edition, we haven’t found information on a possible forthcoming English edition, feel free to let us know if there is one!)

• About Rubén:

Graduated in International Business Management, Rubén works as General Coordinator of Professionals at the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL). Among his main tasks, he develops the content of programs such as the International Publishers and Book Professionals Forum, the International Forum of University and Academic Presses and the International Forum of Editorial Design.

He is also in charge of the FIL Rights Exchange, the fellowship program of FIL for publishers and editors interested in Spanish-speaking authors. Jury of the 9th Iberoamerican Illustrated Catalog in 2018, he has participated as a speaker in various forums and professional training activities of the publishing industry in the Book Fairs of Bologna (Italy), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Festilus (Chile), LéaLA (USA), Taipei (Taiwan), Bogotá (Colombia), Medellin (Colombia), Oaxaca (Mexico), as well as in specialized meetings such as Festilus (Chile), TLA Annual Conference (USA) and FILI (Finland). He participated in the Istanbul Fellowship Program in 2020.