Young people and literature are closer than ever. It is a fact that they were the great protagonists in the National Book Fair in its 46th edition. Many participated under the traditional roles of writers or readers, but others have joined new categories thanks to social networks such as Booktubers, Booktokers, Bookstagrammers, among others. They were part of the “International Meeting of Bookfluencers”.
This new phenomenon has been expanding in youth. What are they? Bookfluencers are all those creators of content on social networks (Instagram, Tik Tok, and YouTube, among others) about books. Many of their activities consist of recommending and rating different readings to their followers.
In the last edition of the Fair there was an event on this new modality. Various activities were held at this meeting, such as games, debates and book signings, where both young authors and influencers were invited. Among them stood out Anto Romano, Naty Beroiz and Sofía Mascaró, Dewars Bracho, Mariela Fernández, Calu Dente and Karen Fernández.
But all this is due to a person who is already known to many among young people. It is Cristina Alemany, the president of the Youth Activities Commission of the “El Libro” Foundation, which since 2015 is part of the organization of the Fair.
News: What do you think about young people and literature today?
Christina Germany: For some it is a fashion at first sight. They see a book like “Harry Potter”, “Twilight”, “Percy Jackson”, or “The Hunger Games” and then fall in love with literature and continue reading. In other cases, some of us like reading as an activity until we find the book that strikes a chord in our soul and that’s where it starts. I believe that the boy who enters the reading does not leave. He begins to learn, get to know and indulge himself, then he continues to read always within his preferences. Young people and reading at this time are in love, it is really exceptional, especially after the pandemic, that there was not much to do and they turned much more to reading.
News: Is there an increase in people pre-pandemic?
Germany: Yes, as is. The first figures are arriving and we think that they have all been surpassed compared to other years, that more than one million two hundred thousand people came, that more was also sold, there were more people going around everywhere but sales also increased: there are more readers, bookfluencers, more writers. The pandemic, I think, favored introspection, reading and writing a bit, so we expect final figures that we believe were surpassed before. Especially because in the youth movement we consult a lot with the kids, and there were between thirty-five and forty percent who told us that it was the first time they had come to the Fair and participated in the activities. At the same time, the boys from previous years continued to come, which means that there was necessarily an increase in youth, which was noticeable. We did almost a dozen activities with full rooms.
News: What objective do you think is the main objective of the Fair?
Germany: The Book Fair is a spectacular way to facilitate reading, to promote reading, and to spread it in one place to people from all over the country. At the same time, it seeks to make contact with the books and the authors, although now they are within reach of the phone and you can send them an email, I think it is priceless to have the author and ask them a question face to face or hug them and take a photo when you sign a copy. It seems to me that it is an editorial party, where all the parties are present: there is the reader, the author, the editor, the distributor and a lot of journalism, all of us who do something in the book world are here and we celebrate reading.
News: What do Bookfluencers represent in the new era?
Germany: They are very important for the four platforms that we have at the moment in blogs, Youtube, Instagram and Tik Tok, I think that all the work they do is intertwining a bit between networks and it is incredible, especially for the young audience, which many times do not consume traditional media. So bookfluencers are reading facilitators and they let many kids know about the books that are especially intended for them and show them that reading is fun, that it opens up a whole world for you, that it keeps you company and that it also makes you socialize. with other kids who read.
News: What do you think of the Bookfluencers event? What does it represent for you that it has become the longest event of the Fair?
Germany: It is the event that I like the most and it is the longest event by necessity. When it started it lasted an hour and a half and we realized that it was useless, it was too short for the thousands of people there were. We went little by little grasping the hand of the format and then we said “well, so that they don’t want more, we make an event that lasts several hours”. So it was arranged that those two and a half hours or more be dedicated to speaking with the panels on various topics. Then come the raffles, music is played at the signatures, and all that takes a long time.
This year the meeting lasted until almost midnight, which is due to the need that marks the public and bookfluencers. Maybe in the future with the new networks the event will have to last a whole day. The important thing is that this is not renewed but grows.
*Nanu Corletto studies at the Profile Communication School.
by Nanu Corletto*
