Past year’s posters from some of the 28 years of the Lima International Book Fair’s iterations. Images: Lima FIL
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
‘What Italy Has To Offer in Lima’
As Italy continues its guest-of-honor world tour of appearances at many book fairs—following its 2024 Guest of Honor Italy stint at Frankfurter Buchmesse—an inauguration ceremony is set for Thursday (July 17). There, the Italian organizers will present their plans for a program featuring 50 events, 13 authors, five exhibitions, three concerts, and a film festival, all designed to showcase “the contemporary face of Italian culture in South America.”
Among book fairs, the Lima program—now in its 29th year—is demanding simply for its duration: the fair runs 20 days, from July 18 to August 6. Many of our world readership are involved in trade shows and book fairs, of course, and know the kind of stamina they require. A 20-day run is a feat in and of itself. Previous guest-0f-honor markets have included Argentina, Portugal, and Colombia, and this public-facing show is known not only for its focus on books but also for offerings in music, theater, film, and other idioms.
So it is that a cinematic visual from Luchino Visconti’s 1963 Il Gattopardo (The Leopard) appears at times as a signature graphic, reminding book fair attendees of the Italian Film Festival that will screen 14 films based on literary works during the fair, all at the Martín Adán Auditorium.
Artwork related to the 1963 Luchino Visconti film ‘Il Gattopardo’ has contributed visuals for the upcoming Guest of Honor Italy program at the Lima International Book Fair. Image: FIL Lima
The fair and its Italian delegation are emphasizing the 150th anniversary of the 1874 Treaty of Friendship, Commerce, and Navigation between Lima and Rome, the two capitals and their countries represented at a ribbon-cutting on Thursday by Massimiliano Mazzanti, the Italian ambassador to Peru, and Innocenzo Cipolletta, well known to our readers as the president of the Association of Italian Publishers (Associazione Italiana Editori, AIE).
As it turns out, however, another reason for the enthusiastic preparations underway is that Spanish is the language into which Italian books are most frequently translated.
Innocenzo Cipolletta
In a statement on the upcoming events in Peru, Cipolletta says, “The Lima International Book Fair concludes a 2025 that has seen Italy as Guest of Honor on three continents, first in Asia with Taipei, then in Europe with Thessaloniki, and now in South America. ‘Latin Connections,’ the motto chosen for this venture, highlights the historic ties between our publishing industry and Spanish-speaking countries.
“Spanish has always been the language into which Italian books are most frequently translated. In 2023, the latest available data, 993 titles were sold for Spanish translation, 13 percent of the total. If we look at the number of titles sold on South American markets, in 2001 there were 125, in 2023 there were 456, almost quadrupling.
“We’re arriving in Lima with a rich program that spans different genres and focuses not only on our literature, but also on the Italian language, to build bridges that go beyond the exchange of translation rights.”
Massimiliano Mazzanti
And Mazzanti, the Italian ambassador, says, “The invitation to Italy to participate as guest of honor at the Lima International Book Fair, in addition to representing a showcase for our country, allows us to demonstrate all the richness, variety, and complexity of a cultural, literary, and editorial production that South America, and our Peruvian partners in particular, regard with great interest.
“Despite starting from afar, in fact, the ‘Latin Connections’ traced by the program continue to enrich themselves with visions and perspectives even today, thanks to the presence of an active and participating Italian community in Peru, and nearly two million Italian-Peruvian descendants deeply attached to their roots.
“My invitation to all of them, and to all lovers and enthusiasts of Italian culture, is to come and discover what Italy has to offer in Lima, to meet the authors, to visit the exhibitions, to attend concerts and film screenings. It will be a way to continue to dialogue together, as has been the case for more than 150 years.”
A Multilayered Program
A poster for the Italian guest of honor program at the 2025 Lima International Book Fair. Image: AIE
The Italian programming offers a complex look at Italian culture and literature, starting with its division into six sections at the Parque Próceres de la Independencia, which houses the fair and its guest-of-honor pavilion. The six sections include:
- “In Dialogue,” exploring the historical and cultural connections between Italy and Peru,
- “Stories That Remain,” dedicated to the narration of particularly significant episodes in Italian literary and cultural history, or to some of its interpreters,
- “Signs and Visions,” on the visual arts, from cinema to comics,
- “Investigation Into Writing,” on the art of writing, its inspirations and reference styles,
- “Inside the Present,” which looks at current events, and
- “The Rhythm of the Word,” a poetry program.
For travelers, one of the most interesting elements of the Italian plan might be found in its look at major events and podcasts, including the Taobuk-Taormina Book Festival in Sicilia, and program with AIE’s Paola Seghi, looking at various Italian publishing houses and their strategies for opening up to foreign markets. These houses are to include presentations by Elena Biagi (Mondadori); Mara Nascimben (EL Edizioni); Antonella Fabbrini (IT Publishing); Giulio Perrone (Giulio Perrone Editore); Stefano Romanini (Edizioni NPE / Burno Edizioni); and Livia De Paoli (Donzelli Editore), the latter being the editor of La finestra andina, a photographic and narrative book by Riccardo Specchia.
In addition to a 200-square-meter pavilion (2,150 square feet) there are several key exhibitions going into Lima this week.
As has become quite a tradition, Elena Pasoli‘s Bologna Children’s Book Fair (set to run April 13 to 16) is sending an exhibition called Young Pencils: Between Illustration and Comics produced in cooperation with AIE and looking at young talent in contemporary Italian illustration.
Dear Pinocchio: Italian Designers and Graphic Designers Redesign the World’s Most Famous Puppet is a self-explanatory show focused on “Italian design’s ability to create timeless images and objects.”
And while the photography exhibition Matera, Basilicata will allow Peruvian visitors to journey through the streets, squares, and avenues of the city that was the European Capital of Culture in 2019 (on display from Thursday throughout the Fair), the exhibition Between Two Worlds: Memory and Celebration of Antonio Raimondi in Italy and Peru demonstrates (on the same schedule) “the profound and vibrant nature of the Latin Connections that Italy celebrates in Lima.”
Italian exhibitors at the Lima show are to include ALMA Edizioni, Donzelli Editore, Edizioni NPE / Burno Edizioni, EL Edizioni, Giulio Perrone Editore, IT Publishing, and Mondadori Libri.
The Lima International Book Fair is a production of the Peruvian Chamber of Books, which itself was created in June 1946.
On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, July 21 to 23, the Lima fair will present the ninth edition of its conference for publishing professionals, and more about that program, in Spanish, is here.
The chamber is made up of more than 140 members and is administered by a nine-member board of directors responsible for directing the chamber and ensuring its objectives, such as promoting and encouraging the dissemination of books and fostering the habit of reading, in order to support and promote the country’s education and culture.
More from Publishing Perspectives on trade shows and book fairs in the world industry is here; more on the Italian book market is here; more on guest of honor programs at fairs and trade shows is here; more on Guest of Honor Italy at Frankfurter Buchmesse is here; more on the publishing industry in Europe is here; and more on the book industry in Latin America is here.