Àurea Perelló

She holds a degree in Art History and a postgraduate degree in Philosophy and Aesthetics of Contemporary Art. She began working in bookstores during her university years at the Proa Bookstore in the Teatre Nacional de Catalunya, an experience that later became her vocation. As an art historian, she has worked as an independent curator in several civic centers in Barcelona and for the Barcelona City Council. Since 2005, she has worked in various bookstores and book-related projects, including Alibri, Bertrand, Casa del Libro, Gremi de Llibreters de Catalunya, Nórdica Libros, and Libelista. She is one of the founding members of the Finestres project and, for the past five years, has served as director of its two Barcelona locations and a third in Palamós, Costa Brava. She is convinced that bookstores are the best spaces to let time pass, to get lost among books, and that they are indispensable in any city that wants to remain vibrant.

Rodnei Casares

Born in Caracas, he is a bookseller, editor, and cultural manager. He started working in a bookstore at the age of 21, almost by chance, and since then has developed a deep passion for the profession. He is co-founder, together with Alberto Sáez, of Libros del Fuego, an independent publishing house originating in Venezuela with a presence in Colombia.

He has promoted projects that strengthen Medellín’s book ecosystem, such as the city’s Bookstore Map, the Bookstore Tour, and the first Antioquia Booksellers School, carried out in collaboration with Marcela Fernández. For several years, he has also directed a bookstore in Medellín that functions as a space for conversation and community. For him, the role of the bookseller is to listen and recommend, to build a bridge between books and readers, and to keep the bookstore alive as a vibrant space in the city.

Carmen Lucía Alvarado

Poet and editor. She was part of the organization of the Quetzaltenango International Poetry Festival with the collectives Ritual and Metáfora. She served as deputy editor of the electronic magazine Luna Park and is the founder of the project Catafixia Editorial. She coordinated the critical anthology El futuro empezó ayer, which highlights new Guatemalan writing (UNESCO–Catafixia Editorial). She has participated in poetry festivals and creative gatherings in Mexico, Costa Rica, Cuba, and Spain. Her poems have been included in anthologies and magazines in several countries, in both English and Spanish. In 2020, she was nominated for the Rhysling Award, granted annually by the Science Fiction Poetry Association in the United States. She has published the poetry books Imagen y semejanza (2010), Poetas astronautas (2012), and Edad geológica del miedo (2018), while her books Pangea Muerte and Los seres intermedios are forthcoming. She is the founder of the bookstores Santiaguito Libros in Quetzaltenango and Catafixia Centro in Guatemala City, as well as the Asociación 32 Volcanes.

Verónica Mendoza

Director of the Carlos Fuentes Bookstore at the University of Guadalajara, with over 20 years of experience in the publishing industry. During this time, she was part of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL Guadalajara) as Director of Exhibitors and Professionals, where she contributed significantly to the fair’s growth and led the revitalization and consolidation of professional development programs for the sector.

In 2015, she founded Base Tres, a company dedicated to developing the publishing industry. Through this initiative, she has contributed to numerous projects, including the creation of the UNAM International University Book Fair (FILUNI), the management and expansion of the business center at the Panama International Book Fair, advising foreign publishing companies on establishing businesses in Latin America, and the development of publications, growth programs, and consolidation strategies for the University of Guadalajara Press as well as the EULAC Secretariat.

Other activities involving the participant:

Inauguration