“Surprising” demand for books in Portuguese at the Buenos Aires Book Fair

The bookstore occupies the heart of the Lisbon Pavilion, at the Buenos Aires Book Fair, in Argentina. It is a round table that embraces the center of the space with which the Portuguese capital wants to make known what is written in Portuguese.

There are books translated into Spanish, but also many written in Portuguese. In addition to the unmissable and highly sought after Fernando Pessoa or José Saramago, there are also books by newer authors and, in some cases, still unknown to Argentines.

But this has not stopped them from looking for literature written in Portuguese. This is what the bookseller responsible for selling books in the Lisbon pavilion tells us. Marco Almada is even “surprised that there are people looking for and buying books in Portuguese”.

In the opinion of this experienced bookseller, what Lisbon brought “is selling very well”. “Portugal has a very interesting literary and editorial production”, he explains to the report from Renaissanceadding that there is a “balance” between the search for books by established authors such as Pessoa who sold out “Livro do Desassossego”, and newer authors.

“We were surprised by the demand for books in Portuguese, not just novels, but books about Lisbon, Portugal, essays or art books”, highlights Marco Almada. This Argentinean says, however, that in general demand at the fair has dropped, due to the financial crisis that Argentina is facing.

In the bookstore, looking at the books, we found a lady with whom we risked our best Spanish in search of an interview. She tells us that she has already read Fernando Pessoa and José Saramago. When we ask her if she is from Buenos Aires, she explains that she is not. “I’m Portuguese!”, she surprises with the answer.

Her name is Maria dos Reis Esteves, she is from Melgaço, and has lived in Argentina for 70 years. Every year she comes to the book fair and, this time, “because Lisbon is here”, she had more reasons to come. She walked back and forth, walked around the table three times, looking for a book.

This Portuguese woman, who does not forget her origins, took home a collection of Portuguese poetry. You will be satisfied with your choice. “These are the roots”, she tells us proudly and considers that reading in Portuguese “is good for the soul”.

While Maria dos Reis Esteves made her purchase in the Portuguese bookstore, in the same Lisbon Pavilion there was a table that brought together Portuguese authors Afonso Cruz, Ana Pessoa and the poet André Tecedeiro.