Hummingbird Book Festival
- La Moneda Cultural Center, Plaza de la Ciudadania 26, La Moneda Metro Station.
- Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th August – 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.
- Free.
From Thursday 8th to Sunday 11th August, children’s and young adult literature will have its own festival at the Centro Cultural La Moneda. This is the first edition of the Colibrí Festival, a free activity, open to the public and organised jointly by Editoriales de Chile and IBBY Chile, within the framework of the latter organisation’s 60th anniversary.
The international association IBBY, founded in Zurich (Switzerland) in 1957 as the International Board on Books for Young People, has as its main objective the connection between children and young people with books and reading. In 1964, the national author Marcela Paz, creator of the fundamental children’s work Papelucho, promoted the initiative to create an IBBY section in Chile and invited different writers to meet around the promotion of literature in children.
Sixty years after the creation of the organization, IBBY Chile and Editoriales de Chile pay tribute to the work of Marcela Paz and many other authors with the first edition of the Colibrí Festival. The free activity at the Centro Cultural La Moneda will have a space that will bring together 60 publishers of children’s and young adult literature who will exhibit their catalogs of books, games and different reading formats for children and young people. This book fair will be joined by a large free program with workshops, storytelling, discussion panels, stage proposals and professional days for mediators.
“Our association has always been interested in strengthening the alliances it maintains with different organizations linked to books and reading. Having the opportunity to celebrate the 60th anniversary of IBBY Chile together with the best of the national children’s and young adult literature publishing is a milestone that reinforces our commitment to promoting reading and the promotion of this type of books with different reading audiences. In this commemorative and free activity, we invite the public to come and experience first-hand the diversity of formats and styles that children’s and young adult literature offers,” says Tamara Reyes, president of Editoriales de Chile.
“At IBBY Chile, we are deeply excited to celebrate our 60th anniversary with the first edition of the Colibrí Festival. This event not only allows us to pay tribute to the history of our organization and its dedication to the promotion of children’s and young adult literature, but also gives us the opportunity to create a space for meeting and dialogue between publishers, authors, mediators, families and children. Our commitment continues to be to bring books and reading to children and young people, and this festival is a tangible example of that commitment. We firmly believe that reading is an essential tool for development and creativity, and this festival is an excellent opportunity for everyone to discover new perspectives and voices in Chilean and Ibero-American children’s and young adult literature. In addition, the festival takes place in a central location in Santiago, where we hope that everyone can attend the wide range of activities with national and international guests for all ages and tastes,” explains Luz Yennifer Reyes, president of IBBY Chile.
Workshops and international meetings
In addition to the space for publishers, the Colibrí Festival will bring together a distinguished group of guests, both national and international, to create a rich program around children’s and young adult literature that will include workshops aimed at children, young people and adults, with dialogues, discussions and stage proposals for all audiences. All workshops are free and require prior registration on the IBBY Chile website.
The award-winning Argentinian illustrator Yael Frankel – winner of the Best Fiction Book Award at the Bologna International Children’s Book Fair 2023 for Todo lo que pasó antes de que llegaras (Limonero) – will lead a workshop for adults (Sunday 11, 11:00 a.m.). Meanwhile, the Chilean illustrator Paloma Valdivia – winner of the Grand Prix at the Bratislava Biennial of Illustrations in 2024 – will also lead a workshop for adult audiences (Saturday 10, 11:00 a.m.).
For a young audience, the prominent Peruvian writer and poet Micaela Chirif – winner of the prestigious illustrated album contest A la Orilla del Viento by the Fondo de Cultura Económica in 2013 and the Cuatrogatos Foundation award in 2017 – will lead a creative writing workshop aimed at school-age youth (Friday 9, 10:00 a.m.).
During the festival, there will also be meetings with prominent authors, editors and publishers to discuss the children’s and young adult literature ecosystem. On Saturday 10th, there will be a round table discussion on the 60th anniversary of IBBY Chile, in which the researcher and writer Claudio Aguilera, the director of Fundación Palabra, Constanza Mekis, and the president of IBBY Chile, Luz Yennifer Reyes, will participate. Later, the director of Alboroto Ediciones (Mexico), Mónica Bergna, will talk with the editorial director of Claraboya Ediciones (Chile), Valeria Mari, about the training of young readers (5:00 p.m.).
Then, on Sunday 11th, the discussion The art of editing books for children will take place with Pilar Gutiérrez, director of the publishing house Tragaluz (Colombia), Gustavo Puerta, director of Ediciones Modernas El Embudo (Spain), and Lola Larra, director of Ekaré Sur (Chile) (4:00 p.m.).
For all ages: from workshops and education to storytelling and stage performances
Starting on Saturday morning, families and children will be able to enjoy various activities focused on oral storytelling, nature and stage proposals. The Pájaras en vuelo group will present a storytelling activity using the traditional crankie box method to visualise stories (Saturday 10, 12:00). On the same Saturday, the Giracuentos Foundation, specialised in reading and storytelling for hospitalised children, will carry out two interventions, at 11:00 and 15:00.
In the area of nature dissemination and education, the Chungungo content platform for early childhood will organize the workshop Herbs and plants that care, focused on learning about the identity and relationship with the land of the Mapuche people (Saturday 10, 3:00 p.m.).
On Sunday 11th, the interdisciplinary theatre mediation team La Cajita will present Una cajita en el bosque, a sensory experience and stage proposal for early childhood accompanied by music (Sunday 11th, 12:00 pm).
Professional days for reading mediation
In line with its commitment to connecting children and young people with books and reading, the Colibrí Festival will also include two professional sessions aimed at reading mediators, which will take place on Thursday 8th. Registration is available via this form. The seminar will open at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday 8th with a talk by Italian writer Arianna Squilloni, founder and editor of the publishing house A Buen Paso (Spain).
In this professional training session, workshop facilitators Pamela Ferreira and Melissa Cárdenas, members of the Calzaslargas project, will conduct a workshop focused on mediation strategies with new formats and approaches to children’s literature with a gender perspective (Thursday 8, 3:30 p.m., with prior registration).
On the other hand, the academic, author and editor Camila Valenzuela León – author of the book De bosque y cenizas (Libros del Pez Espiral, 2021) – will develop a workshop on feminism in classic tales of children’s and young adult literature (Thursday 8, 3:30 p.m., with prior registration).
Organized by: IBBY Chile and Chilean publishers
Supported by: La Moneda Cultural Center
Project funded by the National Fund for the Promotion of Books and Reading, 2024 call.
-
To find out more about what’s happening in the world of science and culture, join our Cultívate community, El Mostrador’s newsletter on these topics. Sign up for free HERE.
#Hummingbird #Book #Festival #Worldys #News