This week, our writers bring you news of what’s happening around the world. In Brazil, a newly published collection draws together international voices discussing their experience during quarantine; in Hong Kong, tightened lockdown measures have meant book fairs and events moving online; and in Central America, the Autores en cuarentena event series is taking place online, whilst Carlos Wyld Espina’s essential political essay El Autócrata has been reissued.
Daniel Persia, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Brazil
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic has no doubt weighed heavily on writers, altering not only their physical workspaces and subject matter, but also their orientation to the art itself. In Brazil, the Instituto Moreira Salles (IMS) has invited 126 individuals and collectives to reflect on their experiences during quarantine, featuring multimedia work from writers, visual artists, and musicians, among others. Meanwhile, reflections have gone global with Para além da quarentena: reflexões sobre crise e pandemia, which showcases critical discussions from Brazil, Italy, France, Portugal, the United States, and Uruguay. The collection, released in June, is available in free pdf and e-book formats through mórula editorial.
Another new release, Pandemônio: nove narrativas entre São Paulo—Berlim [Pandemonium: Nine Narratives Bridging São Paulo—Berlin], takes a more in-depth look from two of the world’s major literary hubs: São Paulo and Berlin. Organized by Cristina Judar and Fred Di Giacomo, Pandemônio touches on the pandemic, the ongoing economic crisis, and the advance of authoritarianism, highlighting similarities and differences between São Paulo and Berlin. Featured authors include Aline Bei, Cristina Judar, Jorge Ialanji Filholini and Raimundo Neto (representing São Paulo) and Carola Saavedra, Fred Di Giacomo, Alexandre Ribeiro, Karin Hueck, and Carsten Regel (representing Berlin). Pandemônio illustrates the strength of collective testimony, highlighting how stories have the power to bridge experiences from distant corners of the globe. The book is available for free online at www.pandemonioantologia.com, and through Amazon. A full English translation will be released in August.
Charlie Ng, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Hong Kong
Due to the surge in the number of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the third wave of coronavirus infections in Hong Kong, the government has implemented work-from-home arrangements for civil servants for at least two weeks from July 20 to August 2 and tightened restrictions on the public in order to curb the spread of the virus. Measures include making masks mandatory in indoor public places, banning dine-in service in restaurants from 6:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m., and the prohibition on group gathering has been tightened from fifty to four people.
In view of the critical situation, this years’s Hong Kong Book Fair, originally scheduled from July 15 to July 21, was postponed to September or December. Publishers resorted to conducting individual book fairs online, such as Oxford University Press (China), The Chinese University Press, Arcadia Press, and Breakthrough Book Gallery. Local literary magazine Fleurs des Lettres and Hong Kong Literature House also hosted their book fairs online. Moreover, local online shopping platform, HKTVmall, is going to organise an online book fair from August 10 to August 15.
Literary events continue to take place on the Internet. On July 18, an online poetry reading session was hosted by the Centre For Community Cultural Development (CCCD). Ten local poets, including Huai Yuan, Yuen Che-hung, Liu Wai-tong, Cao Shuying, Lau Wai-shing, Tim Kwan, Hong Wai, Huang Runyu, Louise Law, and Lam Hei-ching, were invited to read their works written during the pandemic outbreak. Many of the poems also addressed the ongoing social movements in the city, reflecting the poets’ observations on lives in a turbulent age under the threats of plague and political turmoil. The CCCD will also organise an online book reading session on July 25, introducing the quarantine diaries written by Wuhan writer Fang Fang, filmmaker Ai Xiaoming, and social worker Guo Jing. The diaries will be read by three guests, who are all feminists: UK theatre group Mind the Gap resident director Joyce Lee, actress Vinci Mok, and social worker Chi Ling, to reflect on the lockdown life in Wuhan from a feminist perspective.
José García Escobar, Editor-at-Large, reporting from Central America
Centroamérica Cuenta, the region’s most prestigious and famed literary festival, continues its online series, Autores en cuarentena. Following the social distancing recommendations, Centroamérica Cuenta has put together writers, poets, and journalists. Recent conversations include Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Colombia) speaking with Carolina Robino (Chile), a conversation between Ana Escoto (El Salvador), Ligia Orellana (El Salvador), and Rodrigo Fuentes (Guatemala); and most recently Alejandra Costamagna (Chile) talking with Luis Chavez (Costa Rica).
Mid-July, Guatemala’s indie-press giants, Catafixia Editorial reissued a legendary and essential book for the country’s literary canon: El Autócrata by novelist and essayist Carlos Wyld Espina. Published originally in 1929, El Autócrata is a sharp and devastating political essay based around the figure of dictator Manuel Estrada Cabrera and framed by historical moments that shaped Guatemalan society in the 1920s.
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