The annual Buenos Aires book fair opens its doors to the public today and runs through May 7. It’s an excellent showcase for Argentine writings though not as much of an international scene as the fair’s sponsors would like to suggest. The main English language writer at the fair is Scott Turow
Contrast that to the upcoming Parati Literary Festival in Brazil where the headliner is Nobel prize winner J.M. Coetzee
Though to be fair to the Buenos Aires book fair, the Parati festival is a very different kind of event. And there are a number of Chilean and Paraquayan writers who will be presenting at the Buenos Aires book fair, an opportunity that these writers are unlikely to find elsewhere.
A good guide to the Buenos Aires book fair comes as a supplement to today’s (Thursday) ClarÃn.
Even without going to any of the book signings or lectures, the book fair is a fun way to spend a few hours browsing among all the books and finding something to buy. Oddly, there’s no discount on books at the fair. Again, I have to raise the question as to why books are so expensive in Buenos Aires? The costs of printing in Argentina must be lower than it is in the U.S. but the books in Buenos Aires are as expensive, and often, more expensive than in the U.S.
Well, perhaps Buenos Aires is one of the few places where book publishing is still a good and profitable business to start.
Anyway, be sure to take some time and go to the Buenos Aires book fair, buy a book, and read it.
Reading is fun. All the cool kids are doing it!
April 20th, 2007 at 1:45 pm
Hi! I think books are expensive here because many of the supplies are imported. Yes, you might think we should be able to produce fine quality ink and paper, but maybe that’s not the case. The relatively small amount of published copies (for most books) might also have to do with it.
April 20th, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Hi Pablo,
Thanks for that perspective. As I think about your comment, certainly the biggest expense in printing is the cost of the offset equipment, which is now highly technical and foreign made. Of course, that cost is carried by the printer and distributed among a large number of clients. Actually, I’m quite impressed with the quality of a lot of the printing here.
Yet, since publishers in Argentina spend less on labor costs such as editing, book cover design, interior layout production, distribution, etc. then there should still be factors that reduce the costs of publishing here.
Or, perhaps the cost is just market driven. People who buy books are usually mid to upper income and will likely buy a desired book even if the price is ten to fifteen pesos higher. And with the absence of a public library culture of book borrowing in BsAs, the reading public is left with little choice but to buy books at whatever price. This is an interesting little topic.