The self-isolation decreed by the Government of Spain in mid-March has meant the total paralysis of all our projects and activities. Besides us, all the municipal, regional and national cultural life has stopped. In some cases we have decided to cancel, in others we have moved the dates of our events until the fall, without knowing for sure if we can finally carry them out, or under what conditions of public access.
Although our model of cultural management is based on a strong face-to-face model, and one of its main attractions consists precisely on its physical and visual connection with the monumental and touristic city of Granada, we have begun a process of reflection with the aim of reconfiguring our activity in this new paradigm that is forming. In this new situation we believe that on-site and online activities must coexist. Literary conversations, poetry readings, writing workshops, reading clubs, conferences and round tables may be conducted online, based on their objectives and characteristics.
Local industries linked to the word and literature need more support than ever from public institutions. In this sense, one of our lines of action for the coming months will consist of measures to support he local cultural sector. We will carry out projects to promote the purchase of books in city bookstores, the purchase of books edited by city publishers, etc.
We are very aware of the proposals of other UNESCO Cities of Literature to learn from their best practices and study the implementation in Granada of some of their projects and activities.
Moreover, local writers have very quickly experienced a migration to digital and virtual environments. This process has only just started and we believe that it will be intensified during the coming weeks and months. Our authors are writing new literary works related to the new paradigm, and they are also becoming familiar with the audiovisual platforms to promote them, with a strong use of social media. But their renewal does not only affect its modes of dissemination on the Internet, but also the new ways of configuring projects, new ways of conceiving the literary work, where hybrid verbal/audiovisual works will abound.
From Granada City of Literature and from the Cultural Area of the Granada City Council, we will support and accompany, as far as we can, our authors, our bookstores, our public libraries, our local publishers reconfiguring the literary ecosystem that is being created.
Granada, April 2020
Carmen Casares & Jesús Ortega
Granada City of Literature Program
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