This week, our Editors-at-Large take us from North Macedonia to New York with updates on literary festivals and fairs. From Jean-Pierre Siméon’s belief in the sustaining nature of poetry, to a celebration of the many languages spoken besides Spanish in Hispanic communities, read on to learn more!
Sofija Popovska, Editor-at-Large, Reporting from North Macedonia
The conclusion of the 2024 Struga Poetry Evenings (SPE) brought conversations about the meaning of poetry nowadays to the foreground of the Macedonian literary scene. The festival’s main award, the Golden Wreath—whose recipients over the years include W. H. Auden, Allen Ginsberg, Pablo Neruda, and Ted Hughes—was awarded to French poet, writer, critic, and dramatist Jean-Pierre Siméon this year. In an illuminating conversation with the magazine Nezavisen (Independent), Siméon retraced the well-known, yet often forgotten, connection between poetry, longing, and change.
When asked to comment on his aversion to ‘eschatological’ pronouncements of the nearing ‘end’ of poetry, Siméon explained that the potential to serve as a space for freedom and difference, along with its ability to resist “the noise and the rage of the world,” lend poetry inexhaustible relevance. “Our life, which does not exist,” is whittled away by what Siméon identifies as “the illnesses of our time”: “speed, superficial views, constant movement, anxiety, insufficient faith in what exists.” Poetry provides an antidote: in an age where a person’s value is measured by their (ever-increasing) rate of labor and production, it requires of us “silence, slowness, attentiveness—indispensable to reach the heart of things, deep feelings, the sharpness of wit.” To counter the barrage of distraction and advertisement endlessly unleashed by hypercapitalist media, poetry offers “an alternative way of being, one of complete and intense presence in our own lives.” Once we allow for the mindfulness that structures poetry to do its work within our consciousness, it becomes clear that “power and ownership are false values,” and our own future becomes “not only improved, but possible.” Siméon summarizes his mission by quoting Jean Giono, who claimed that “poets must be the teachers of hope”.
T’ga za Jug (Longing for the South), a poem by Konstantin Miladinov, always read at the opening of SPE, captures the lacerating yearning for home of the poet, who at the time had been an emigrant in Russia for four years. Siméon expresses a similar, but broader longing: for a better future to house all of humanity.
Alan Mendoza Sosa, Editor-at-Large, Reporting from the United States
On August 27, the International Spanish Book Fair of New York City announced its official theme and venue. This year, the fair will highlight diasporic languages in the United States that often interact with Spanish. The slogan “Un punto de encuentro para el español y otras lenguas” (“A meeting point for Spanish and other languages”) emphasizes the linguistic diversity in the United States beyond Spanish. This year’s theme challenges simplistic conceptions of communities usually labeled as “Hispanic.” Indeed, many migrants and their descendants speak a variety of languages in addition to or instead of Spanish: from Zapotec and Ayuujk, to Catalan and Galician, the languages of communities traditionally labeled as “Hispanic” represent a complex mosaic of diverse cultures, traditions, and heritages. Between October 8-12, The New York City Spanish Book Fair will highlight the rich linguistic heterogeneity of communities behind the term “Hispanic.”
In addition to this year’s theme, the Fair’s organizers also announced the new location. In past years, the event took place primarily at Columbia and New York Universities. However, this year it will be held at the Borough of Manhattan Community College (BMCC) and the BMCC Tribeca Performing Arts Center. According to the Fair’s press releases, these locations are larger and more accessible. They reflect the Fair’s rapid growth and its electrifying transition into one of the most cutting-edge champions of literature in Spanish in the United States.
Leading up to the main event in October, the FILNYC’s social media have announced several literary workshops and panels that will take place during the Fair. These feature acclaimed writers and scholars who are at the forefront of Spanish literature globally. Among them is Asymptote contributor Selva Almada, who will be talking about her novel No es un río (Random House, 2020), recently translated by Annie McDermott as Not a River (Charco Press, 2024).
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