The most relevant literary festival in the region called Central America counts (CAC) It will take place on May 19 in Totonicapán and Comalapaand will continue from May 20 to 24 in Guatemala City.
An event that highlights dialogues On literature, creation, cinema, music and key themes for the region, such as freedom of expression, human rights, migration, the environment and the various forms of inequality that persist in our countries.
The itinerant festival carries out in Guatemala for the second time, the first was in 2022.
Claudia Neira Bermúdez, director of Central America and Cultural Manager, explains that this festival was founded by The writer Sergio Ramírez In 2013 and since 2019 it is an itinerant event for the socio -political situation of Nicaragua. “The current agenda includes participation with more than 60 national and international participants, in the hands of the Ministry of Culture, the Guatemalan Tourism Institute (Inguat) and the Guatemala editors union associationas well as for the support of different private and public institutions that make possible, “he said.
Why were Totonicapán and Comalapa chosen?
“The activities that we will have in Totonicapán and Comalapa are important because they represent the first time that the festival comes out of a capital and what better way to do it in these emblematic communities for indigenous populations. For us it is very important to be able to tell and make these voices have their space about their worldview, their culture and their way of organizing,” explains Neira Bermúdez.
It clarifies that these places were chosen by idiosyncracy, by representation and for being great cribs of the cultural and organizational force.
Although the calendar is not yet defined, the director of CAC mentions that the participation of local and foreign authors will be taken to believe a dialogue, which is part of the festival’s objectives.
Central America Agenda Account
On May 20, the festival that will have a conversation between Joan Manuel Serrat and Sergio Ramírez. “It is a dialogue between a great music and lyrics and the creator of this festival,” adds the cultural manager. He also comments that the festival will be dedicated to Miguel Ángel Asturias.
During the inauguration, the legacy of Miguel Ángel Asturias will also be deposited in the Caja Caja del Lyrics of the Cervantes Institutewhere it will be received by its director, Luis García Montero, with the presence of President Bernardo Arévalo as an honor witness. This legacy will be transferred to Madrid.
Among book presentations They stand out I shout towards Romeby Federico García Lorca, translated into various native languages; A silence full of murmursby Gioconda Belli; and The boys of the Apocalypseby Jorge Galán.
Performance reading is also planned How to remember thirst? of Nona Fernández (Chile) and a concert of Haydée Milanés (Cuba), Daughter of the composer Pablo Milanés.
For Philippe Hunziker, a member of the Central America Advisory Council, he explains that this event is timely and important because for more than 10 years he has put in the global scene to Central America that has much to tell and where the Latin American letters converge. “It will be interesting for Guatemalan readers to meet their favorite writers,” adds Hunziker.
Cultural wealth of Comalapa in Central America account
Located between the valleys north of the department of Chimaltenango, about 82 kilometers from the capital city, there is San Juan Comalapa, a hidden treasure laid out of vibrant colors, artistic murals and a tempered climate.
Cradle of artists: so they call him. For the inhabitants of Comalapa, mostly from the Mayan people Kaqchikel, art is a genetic inheritance that has transformed his life, describes the journalist Belinda Martínez in an article published in 2024 in Magazine dof Free press.
To this place characters such as Rafael Álvarez Ovalle, author of the music of the National Anthem of Guatemala, and Andrés Curruchiche, a prominent painter of Kaqchikel offspring. His paintings, of remarkable primitivism, reproduce scenes from their people, meticulously documenting aspects of social life, from domestic and sponsal haircuts, to bullfights and religious festivities.
Comalapa’s artistic legacy continues to bloom. The children, grandchildren and great -grandchildren of the pioneers of art, such as the Curruchiche, Tuctuc, Perén, Simón, Chex, Xocop, Cúmez, González, Mich, Otzoy, Mux and Niche, to mention some, continue to dedicate themselves not only to the plastic arts, but also to music, textiles and literature. However, it is the painting that continues to stand out among the Comalapens, thus turning San Juan Comalapa into an artist land.
Totonicapán And its history arrives at the literary festival
The department is located in the Guatemala Altiplano. It was created in 1872. It is one of the richest departments in handicraft production: traditional and painted traditional ceramic products are made, wooden furniture, masks, wool ponchos fabrics and textiles made in waist and standing looms.
Humberto Ak’abal was originally from Momostenango, in Totonicapán, and was one of the most important Mayan poets in the country’s history.
The Guatemalan Tourism Institute (Inguat) describes that Totonicapán is known as a prolvious city, for having as a hero a Atanasio Tzulwho, after rebelling against the Spaniards in 1820, became crowning. The chair that will use as a throne is today in the communal mayor’s office of the 48 cantons. In La Unión Park, a statue can be visited in tribute to this character.