“La Feria,” one of late Jalisco author Juan Jose Arreola’s most celebrated works, will be read out loud by more than 400 people in a marathon session on World Book Day, Monday, April 23.
The reading session will take place from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m. on the Rambla Cataluña at Avenida Juarez and Escorza, the pedestrian precinct running alongside the Universidad de Guadalajara (UdG) rectory/Museo de las Artes. All are welcome to attend any part of the event to be held in a large tented arena.
Arreola, born in Cuidad Guzman, is considered Mexico’s premier experimental short story writer of the 20 century, and recognized as one of the first Latin American writers to abandon realism. “La feria,” a fragmented work with no principal character set amid the local fiesta honoring his hometown’s patron saint, is arguably his finest literary accomplishment.
World Book Day was established by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) in 1995 to encourage reading. Reading marathons have been taking place annually in Jalisco since 2002.
Readings will also be held on some 170 school campuses affiliated to the UdG in 44 municipalities.