Congress of the Association of Hispanic Female Literature and Culture

By Susana Mendez

From November 10th to November 14th the XXIV Annual Congress of the International Association of Hispanic Female Literature and Culture will be held at the National Hotel of Cuba, on the bicentenary of Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda: legacies of female creativity.

In Havana, the conclave has been organized by the Institute of Literature and Linguistics, and coordinated by Zaida Capote Cruz, who heads at that institution the Chair Gertrudis Gómez de Avellaneda, and also by Barbara Riess, a member of the Association and professor of Allegheny College.

The event will celebrate the bicentenary of the Camagüey author, events that have been included by UNESCO among the highlights of the 2014-2015 biennium, and in one of its participation programs.

The congress will involve more than 150 speakers who will honor the memory of the Camagüey poet, storyteller, playwright and essayist with discussions about her work during the first two days of sessions, it will also conduct a dramatic reading of El árbol de los gatos, unpublished work by Elaine Vilar Madruga, recently selected for the V biennial female drama La escritura de las Diferencias 2015.
 

It will also be presented the facsimile edition of an autograph album compiled by Avellaneda, with interesting comments from her handwriting on the authors and their letters, and whose original, recently purchased by Cuba, will be delivered for safekeeping to the National Library on Tuesday 12th as part of the congress program.

At the end of the event will be a concert Mujeres en la música cubana ( Women in Cuban music) conceived by Emilio Cueto and artistic direction of Cristina Rodriguez of the National Lyric Theater of Cuba.

Another important action will be the staging of El millonario y la maleta ( The millionaire and suitcase/), written by Avellaneda, on Thursday 13^th , special function in the Hall Hubert de Blanck by Teatro del Viento; this presentation will be directed by Freddy Nunez Estenoz and dramatized by Norge Espinosa.

A short sample by Cuban filmmakers will be shown, curated by Danae Dieguez, and will also carried out a sale of books and magazines on the subject.

Also the general assembly of the organization will hold a meeting and will be delivered the Victoria Urban Awards 2014, designed to stimulate academic and creative work committed to feminism and gender studies.

The International Association of Hispanic Female Literature and Culture aims to promote critically the cultural production of women in the field of literature and Hispanic culture, whether in Spanish or Portuguese, and geographic areas longest established, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and Africa.

This association is based in the United States and draws members from around the world; annually it elects by a competition the headquarters of its congress which has been held since 1996 and has taken place in several cities in the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe.

The public session on the work of writers and artists of the Hispanic world, will take place every day between 9 am and 5 pm at the National Hotel of Cuba.

Source Cubarte