Quibdó and the Chocoan municipality of Bahía Solano have been the scene, since March 16, of the fifth edition of the Chocó -Flecho- Reading and Writing Festival. Book launches, exhibition of musical and gastronomic exhibitions and various creative reading and writing workshops take place at the festival that, in 2020, had to be held outside the classroom.
Generally, March is a month with a low influx of foreigners: the ideal time to hold the Flecho, a festival for locals: there are ten days where the streets of Quibdo and Bahia Solano are decked out in the midst of a psychedelia that, beyond the striking, becomes necessary for two villages besieged by state and legislative oblivion that only appears in electoral times. Banners, stacked books and dozens of children interested in learning more about literary art become the gears that make up this festival.
“We inhabit poetry”, is the motto of the fifth edition of this fair, and according to Corporación Motete, the body responsible for making this project and all the meetings that compose it a reality, it is precisely poetry that has the capacity to enhance the senses of the listener and the interlocutor and thus have a better overview of what is around each one.
Figures from national art and literature such as Emilia Caicedo, Mario Duarte, César Rivas, Pilar Gutiérrez, Saulo Guerrero, Lili Ibargüen, Cristian Valencia, Álbinson Castro and Antonio García have been and will be present during the remaining days of the festival, and it is at this point that the invitation becomes a necessary act: even though the festival is one of the locals, any inhabitant of Colombia can come and participate in a meeting of knowledge in a region that abounds with ancestral riches.
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In fact, one of the events that attracted the most attention of the fair was the presentation of the Library of Colombian Women Writers, which was launched in Bogotá on March 8 as part of the commemoration of International Women's Day; however, Pilar was present in the capital of Choco. Quintana -author of this initiative and author of the pre-launch editorial note-, who spoke specifically about the titles made by local women: 'My Black Cristo, 'by Teresa Martínez de Varela, and I Measure My Fourth and Stand on it, by Amalialú Posso Figueroa.
In addition, within the remaining days of the festival, titles such as Sowing Medlars at the Tomb of My Father, by Johanna Barraza Tafur, will be available, which are in the Cocorobe bookstore on the Malecón in Quibdó. There, with a voluntary contribution, visitors will be able to purchase the material for pre-sale.
Finally, every day there is an exhibition of local poets, and Cocorobe returns to protagonist with one of ours that has a differential ethnic focus, showing editorial diversity through multiple local and national works from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.
It is worth mentioning that the Flecho was an idea that was born in 2018 by the ibMotete Educational and Cultural Corporation, winner of the National Cultural Concertation Program of the Ministry of Culture. In addition, it has the support of the mayors of Quibdó and Bahía Solano, as well as the Banco de la República, MinCultura, publishers and the Economic Culture Fund.
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