Guadalajara International Book Fair

The Guadalajara International Book Fair, better known as the FIL (from its Spanish name: Feria Internacional del Libro de Guadalajara) is the most important annual event of its kind in the Spanish-speaking world, but second in attendance after Buenos Aires', and the second largest book fair in the world after Frankfurt's. The purpose of the FIL is to provide an optimal business environment for the book-industry professionals and exhibitors who attend the fair, and for the reading public eager to meet authors and pick up the latest entries in the market.

Created in 1987, the FIL is put on by the University of Guadalajara and is held at the Expo Guadalajara convention center, which has 40,000 m² of floor space. FIL is held every year, starting on the last Saturday in November and continuing for nine days, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico.

The current managing director of the Guadalajara International Book Fair is Marisol Schulz, and its president is Raúl Padilla López.

Prizes and Honours

Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel García Márquez, and Pasqual Maragall awarding the Juan Rulfo Prize to Juan Goytisolo, FIL 2004

As a way of rewarding and honouring literary publishing, the FIL awards the following annual prizes and honours:

• Premio de Literatura Latinoamericana y del Caribe Juan Rulfo (Juan Rulfo Prize for Latin American and Caribbean Literature) (1991)
• Premio y Homenaje Nacional de Periodismo Cultural Fernando Benítez (Fernando Benítez Prize and National Homage to Cultural Journalism) (1992)
• Reconocimiento al Mérito Editorial (Publishing Merit Award) (1993)
• Premio Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz Prize) (1993)
• ArpaFIL (1995)
• Homenaje al Bibliófilo (Homage to Bibliophiles) (2001)
• Homenaje al Bibliotecario (Homage to Librarians) (2002)
• Premio FIL de Literatura en Lenguas Romances (FIL Prize in Romance Language Literature) (2013) awarded to Yves Bonnefoy

Invited countries or cultural regions

Since 1993, the FIL has invited a country or region to be the guest of honor, providing each an opportunity to display the best of its cultural and literary heritage. Beginning with that year, the guests of honor have been: Colombia (1993), New Mexico (USA) (1994), Venezuela (1995), Canada (1996), Argentina (1997), Puerto Rico (1998), Chile (1999), Spain (2000), Brazil (2001), Cuba (2002), Quebec (2003), Catalonian culture (2004), Peru (2005), Andalusia (2006), Colombia (2007), Italy (2008), Los Angeles (2009), Castile and León (2010), Germany (2011), Chile (2012), Israel (2013), Argentina (2014) and United Kingdom (2015).

Year	Guest of Honor Country
1993	Colombia
1994	New Mexico, USA
1995	Venezuela
1996	Canada
1997	Argentina
1998	Puerto Rico
1999	Chile
2000	Spain
2001	Brazil
2002	Cuba
2003	Quebec, Canada
2004	Catalonian Culture, Spain
2005	Peru
2006	Andalusian Culture
2007	Colombia
2008	Italy
2009	Los Angeles
2010	Castile and León
2011	Germany
2012	Chile
2013	Israel
2014	Argentina
2015	United Kingdom
2016	Latin America

History

Main entrance during the 2002 Guadalajara International Book Fair

2005

• 15,357 exhibitors from 45 countries
• Visitor attendance at the fair was 494,388
• 2,899 cultural activities

2006

• 1,307,002 visits were made to the FIL website
• Visitor attendance was 525,000
• 84,495 children at activities for children
• 16,740 exhibitors
• 1,523 journalists and 439 communications media accredited from 60 countries
• 296 book presentations with their respective authors
• 110 literary agents
• 94 artistic and musical activities

2013

• 1935 publishing houses from 43 countries
• Visitor attendance at the fair was 659,898

External links

• Official website