Book Fair a huge cultural success, mild economic disappointment

by Eric Jackson

Panama's reputation as a country that's not much interested in reading will need to be revised after more than 50,000 people showed up for the Central American Book Fair, which took place at ATLAPA between August 1 and 5. The turnout surpassed all expectations and boosted the reputations of several public institutions that were associated with the event.

The Panamanian middle class attended in force, bringing their kids with them, but due to the economic crisis they were looking for bargains, limiting most of their purchases to lower-cost items. According to fair organizers' estimates, those in attendance spent an average of $9 per person, but if one considers that a lot of the purchases were by people who worked at the fair in one way or another and therefore were not counted in the paid attendance figures, the spending per person was probably much lower than estimated.

The first day, Wednesday August 1, was reserved for ceremonies and dignitaries. President Moscoso chose that day to announce her veto of controversial legislation on school textbooks, which would have restricted the use of foreign text in both public and private schools and strengthened the Ministry of Education's power to turn schoolbook approvals into political patronage plums. Mireya called the law "inconvenient," arguing that protectionism for a few Panamanian writers and publishers would unduly isolate Panama from the global economy and the Spanish-speaking cultural world. Her veto enjoyed widespread backing from business and educational interests and in the daily newspapers, but was deplored by some educators, writers and publishing houses. Those who supported the law generally used the nationalistic argument that Panamanians are capable of producing all the textbooks needed for this country's education, while the law's opponents noted that many primary and secondary students can not afford their textbooks and rely upon donations from abroad, particularly from Spain, to have any school books at all.

Many Ministry of Education officials attended the fair because they were required to do so, and on Thursday a lot of these people wandered around looking bored, disdainful, or both. Very few of the legislators who had approved the textbooks law that Mireya vetoed attended the fair. In fact, the political class as a whole was notable mostly for its absence. The fair was a middle class affair, with only a small sprinkling of the rich or powerful.

Panama City's mayor, Juan Carlos Navarro, was the most prominent exception. The city-sponsored children's pavillion was a great success, with story-telling and other activities keeping many kids spellbound while their parents shopped for books. The mayor himself signed copies of his own book about Panama's national parks. Navarro, who is often mentioned as a possible presidential candidate, shared just a sliver of the limelight with announced presidential hopeful Alberto Vallarino, whose Banistmo was one of the few non-publishing and non-bookselling corporations represented at the fair. Vallarino's bank gave away free book bags with school supplies.

Many of Panama's bookstores and almost all of the country's book publishers had booths. However, Panamanian publications represented well under ten percent of the offerings on display. The dominant forces were the Spanish-language branches of the US-based McGraw-Hill and Simon and Schuster and the British-based Penguin multinationals, which among them easily produced a quarter of the selections on sale. Spain's publishing houses came next, and then academic or commercial publishers from around Latin America. Because the Panamanian market is very small and we don't export many books, this country's offerings were on the whole a lot more expensive than the imports and thus did not sell as well to the budget-conscious crowds. The best selections of Panamanian books were to be had at the Club Pen and University of Panama booths. The most popular Latin American publishers appeared to be a Peruvian booth selling miniature versions of the Bible and other classics and the double Cuban booth, which offered a selection well beyond the political things one might have expected, including an extensive selection on Santeria and a treasure trove of instructional manuals for sports trainers.

Upstairs, a wide selection of lectures, workshops, ceremonies and book readings took place every day of the fair. No doubt a few Panamanians were inspired to take the plunge into the book publishing business at these events.

The high point of the upstairs event was the presentation of this year's Miró prizes. Raúl Leis won the drama prize again this year, with Pedro Rivera winning in poetry, Eustorgio Chong for short stories, Ariel Barría in the novel category and Víctor M. Rodríguez for essays. This newspaper made a point of not attending a journalism workshop that included Panama's excellent Ernesto Endara and several other outstanding Central American reporters, but which was moderated by La Prensa's Daniel Domínguez, a flagrant copyright violator with whom The Panama News is engaged in a legal dispute..

As the weekend rolled around the crowds grew, with the biggest crowds and the most sales on Saturday. By that time, prices had been slashed in many of the booths. On Sunday afternoon a last spasm of bargain hunting set in, with coloring books and cheap public domain classic paperbacks selling well and the more expensive hardcover offerings remaining on the shelves.

This book fair was Central America's fifth, but Panama's first. The next such event to be held in Panama will be in 2003, to coincide with this country's centennial. Even the many vendors who lost money at this year's fair are looking forward to that one.

 

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