15 years of the “Un libro por Centavos” Collection at FILBO 2018
The Externado de Colombia University “Un libro por Centavos” poetry collection will have its space at the next International Book Fair of Madrid (Spain).
Spanish author Basilio Rodríguez made the announcement during the presentation of Anthologies 143, 144, and 145, an event attended by Dean Miguel Méndez Camacho, Spanish and Colombian poets, students, and professors, who expressed their love for the art and the beauty of poetry.
Participating in the event were poets Basilio Rodríguez, Yeny Leon, Nelson Romero, and also, Cristina Venegas de Castro, who was responsible for the selection and care of Book No. 145, “The Shakespeare Sonnets.”
“Today is a day for celebration; I want to thank this complicity we have established with the Externado University, which is not only an alliance, it is a brotherhood, it is a link that, through literature and poetry will enable the exchange of authors and literary experiences between the two countries.” With these words, Basilio Rodríguez Cañada, Spanish poet, author of Book 144, “¡Imagínate…!” began his speech.
The poet took this opportunity to make an announcement filling the Externadista community with pride: “At the next Book Fair in Madrid, Spain, several books of the “Un libro por Centavos” Collection will be introduced, as a way of presenting and vindicating a number of authors and titles in this collection.
Lastly, displaying his generosity and love, the Spanish poet dedicated some verses to “my inspiration muse” – his spouse Raquel – who, for many years, has accompanied him in his work full of art and literature.
Colombian Yeny Leon, also a poet of the Collection, and the winner of the University National Short Story and Poetry competition held by the Externado University, also recited some of her poems. Yeny, the author of Anthology No. 143 “La hierba abre su latido” and in charge of reading and writing workshops, states poetry is in everything, so it is possible to attract not only traditional generations who grew up with poetry but also new generations of readers.
“I have realized that people have to be attentive to the poetic around us, even in new technologies. Everything surrounding our youth has poetry, and we must teach them to sharpen their senses to see how words get inside us and transform our existence, from everyday living to the virtual,” she added.
The event concluded with the reading of some excerpts from Book No. 126 poems, by its author, poet Nelson Romero. He was preceded by Cristina Venegas, responsible for the selection and care of “The Shakespeare Sonnets,” who talked about her experience and privilege to be part of this collection.
“The poet is a prophet, and I believe this is what unites Shakespeare with all of you, the poets who accompany us today; the confessions, childhood, the human, the different facets of love present in the English poet, today, resonate in his verses.”