From October 25 to 27, some 10,000 visitors are expected to attend the Metropolitan Book Fair. Organized by the Aix-Marseille-Provence Metropolis, the event is dedicated to literature from around the Mediterranean; For its first edition, it will highlight the country of Don Quixote and El Cid, Spain, and will welcome around a hundred authors.
A meeting for all those involved in the book world
This literary event is not only intended for authors but also for all those involved in the book world according to Martine Vassalpresident of the Aix-Marseille-Provence metropolis, who intends to promote “ the particularly dynamic ecosystem in our territory, and so precious for the transmission of culture, imagination and knowledge ”, according to a press release. The elected official recalls that the region has no less than 89 publishing houses, 77 bookstores and 425 authors.
Free, the metropolitan book fair will offer numerous activities and highlights. On October 25, it will open with a sound and light concert: 90 young people led by a choreographer will travel around the Citadel of Marseille during dance readings. Children’s literature will also be entitled to a performance by the choreographer Nacim Battou and its dancers from the Bouches-du-Rhône Departmental Committee of the French Dance Federation.
Children will also be able to go to the storytelling village and a video-mapping projection. Round tables and meetings between French and foreign publishers (including Anagrama, Alfaguara and Métaillé) are on the program. Signings and exhibitions will complete the offer offered during the weekend.
A show in a place that is both historical and cultural
The event will be held within the Citadel of Marseille, a venue opened to the public last May for the first time since its construction 360 years ago. Built in 1660 during the reign of Louis XIV, this site was initially intended to protect the city from the outside. Over the centuries, it played a role as barracks and prison before being dismantled then rebuilt… until being handed over to the municipality in 2010. Steeped in history, this exceptional site reflects the cultural awakening and the opening of Marseille to the Mediterranean.
Corto Maltese sets foot in the heart of the Phocaean city
For the first edition, the metropolitan show hits hard by summoning the most famous comic strip adventurer, Corto Maltese. An exhibition and a meeting in the presence of two eminent authors of the Iberian scene Juan Diaz Canales et Ruben Pellejero – who since 2015 have taken up the torch ofHugo Pratt – will be dedicated to him on the occasion of the release of the latest album The life line (Casterman) scheduled for October 30.
Making culture accessible to all
This book fair is in line with other events organized by the metropolis with the aim of democratizing access to culture. Among them, Lecture par Nature, an event within libraries which, since 2017, has promoted the practice of reading in all its forms and integrates questions of renewal of audiences and practices, but also of the relationship to writing, to reading, literature, books, new technologies… “ Because, certainly, reading entertains us, but above all it opens us to the world, allows us to better apprehend it, and to understand it better. », concludes Martine Vassal.
