A decade ago, Books & Books in Coral Gables was lauded as being one of the most complete and resourceful bookstores in the area, but only for English language readers. Only a small space was set aside to display books in Spanish. Now it is has one of the most extensive collection of bilingual book in South Florida, a nod to its close ties to the Hispanic market.
The new bond with Spanish language readers is largely due to the work of Gloria Noriega, a Mexican national who serves as director of Spanish language inventory at Books & Books, and also to the flexibility of Mitchell Kaplan, the owner of the book store. Kaplan saw the importance and staying power of the Spanish language book market in Miami and its surrounding areas.
Developing a presence in the market for books in Spanish has been an arduous and tedious labor in which book clubs, local author presentations and international guests have been called upon to participate.
As of late, creative meetings and an on-site writing contest titled Cuentomanía, have also been put in place. Cuentomanía, which debuted on Aug. 27th, is a contest involving a series of publicly read narratives. The finalists in the first round, who read their narratives in front of judges, were selected at the end of the event. The audience also submitted votes for their favorite reading.
“We wanted it to be a dynamic and entertaining event and more than anything, we wanted it to be fun,” said Noriega, who along with Chilean author José Ignacio Valenzuela and Peruvian writer Pedro Medina Leon, judged the participants’ entries.
Medina Leon added: “We wanted the narratives to be short, not longer than 1,300 words, and for the participant to read it out loud in front of the judges and the public to make the contest dynamic and lively.”
Among the 35 participants, 15 were selected as finalists.
The winner of the night was Mila Hajjar; the second place spot belonged to Ghislaine Demombynes. Hajjar now moves on to round two, in which she will read her narrative once again alongside the other finalists on Dec. 10th and is in the running to be one of the winners of the grand prize.
Read more here.
