Publishing conference Readmagine won’t be in Madrid in June, but is instead organizing a virtual edition for 2020, as Frankfurt allows publishers more time on BookFest concepts.

Free of that “these uncertain times” jargon we all keep encountering, the message from Madrid is nothing if not certain: “We will be in no condition to hold an international conference in Madrid or anywhere else during the first week of June.” Bravo. There are many pandemic-staggered governments in the world right now that could use so forthright an assessment.

Seeing this handwriting on the barreled walls of the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez‘s beautiful auditorium, José Manuel Anta, managing director of Spain’s Federation of Distributors’ Associations (FANDE), writes that while the Readmagine program at the Casa del Lector complex thus can’t go on as usual this year, the program has a responsibility to help “the publishing industry make intelligent decisions during the global pandemic and experiment with different responses from the cultural and creative industries.