Ilona Libros, the children's publisher arrives with all this new edition of the FilBo

What can I tell you about Ilona? Maybe I know the most important thing. The adventure began towards the end of 2018, when Noelia Fajardo worked in the children's room of the Tornamesa bookstore, in Bogotá, and from there she began to think about the possibility of starting her own publishing house. Also a victim of the love of picture books and literature, Laura Daza, with whom Noelia had studied Literary Studies at the University of Los Andes, decided to work as a bookseller in the same place, a few months after Noelia did, and after a short time, the two of them stepped aside and threw themselves head to his dream.

The name of the publishing house came thanks to Álvaro Mutis, who even after his death is still a patron of culture. Ilona arrives with the rain is the novel that, in the words of its founders, best condenses the essence of the publishing house. Ilona is a woman who is characterized by being a ray of light that illuminates every life she transits, they point out. However, she never stops her path, that makes her an eternal woman in memory, but ephemeral in contact. Ilona Libros is, then, a publisher that seeks permanence, to remain in memory.

According to the description on their website, they seek to promote national and international talent. Each of his publications is carefully curated, as the entire team is committed to providing top quality literary content. “We make books that promote the love of reading, encourage care and love for the culture of our country and most importantly: we create worlds that, based on our own imagination, manage to build dreams to make them come true.”

I've known Noelia for several years now. While she was studying literature at the Universidad de Los Andes, I was studying literature at the Universidad La Gran Colombia. In those days I was running a magazine prospectus and contacted her to be part of the team. That's when we started to get closer. When I left university and started working in bookstores, she traveled to Spain and when she returned she brought a lot of dreams. I was hired to be a bookseller in Tornamesa, thanks to Camilo de Mendoza, and after a few months I was commissioned to form a new team of booksellers, that's when I told Noelia to take over the children's room, knowing her taste and love for picture books. The bookseller who was in charge until that moment had to come out and would leave a big gap in the team. The books in that room generated at least 60% of the profits. Alejandra, who is now part of a wonderful children's publishing house, was Noelia's guide in the world of selling children's books.

It took a few weeks for Noelia to catch up, but with each passing day she learned more and more. That's when he told me. “I would like to have a publishing house.” I had been reading it a lot to Álvaro Mutis, because at that time it was so many years since his death and I was writing an article about it, in addition, together with Santiago Mutis and Juan Camilo Rincón we would talk about his life and work at an event that took place in the library of the Economic Culture Fund. Noelia was there that day, and there was Ilona.

At the end of 2018 I left the bookstore to work in the Colombian subsidiary of a renowned Spanish publisher. I went from being a bookseller to a client. I was going to talk to Noelia and over the days I realized that her idea of starting a publishing house was no longer just an idea. She would. So, in 2019, together with Laura, they began to work seriously to achieve it. The first book they published deserves all the praise, from the point of view of content and also from the aesthetic point of view. What a way to start! Margarita y las estrellas, by Edinson Ferro, with illustrations by Lulo Febril, was the book that opened the doors in the publishing industry of our country.

With that, the concerns of publishers would come. The capital for printing, design, layout, author's royalties, participation in book events, arrival at bookstores, distribution, in short. It is a whole universe that, like all things, requires a specific financial muscle. Beyond all the obstacles, they continued, and in what way. Quadruped arrived in 2020. Written and illustrated by Emepé, it tells the story of a mammal like any other, however, its story will transform the imagination that man has about the animal. A written and illustrated work to understand the living being from the feeling. It's a small book, practically fits in a coat pocket. It can be read in different ways, since its structure allows it.

In that same year, A different home appeared, by Santiago Briceño. Written and illustrated by himself, this book placed the publisher on another, much higher level. It is the story of the Cricket Girl, who leaves her home in the wasteland and since then must find her place in a city where she feels tiny. Luckily, she won't be alone. It is a book that deals with an important subject and little is explored in children's literature: forced displacement.

In an interview with El Espectador, the author pointed out that the idea of the book was built over time. “When I was studying Anthropology, I was part of several study groups on conflict and we consumed many reports from the Historical Memory Center on displacement and dispossession, about the atrocities committed by paramilitary groups. But often no concrete proposal came out of that study, perhaps an article that would not be widely disseminated. Then I started illustrating more seriously, and I came out with the character of La Niña Grillo, with influences from the short film by Grandmother Grillo that they produced in Bolivia and characters from comic strips. La Niña Grillo became a vehicle for dealing with issues of this style. I could tell she became my voice. And so it occurred to me that she would help me to talk about the topics I had learned about. I think that in order to avoid re-victimization I had to talk more about solidarity among those who are experiencing similar difficulties, rather than showing so emphatically the processes of violence that led them to go through those difficulties.”

With A Different Home, ilona managed to realize what they promise in their slogan, to make books for readers between 0 and 99 years old. It is a text of great literary value with content that allows it to be read from different perspectives, by young and old. A work that allows us to recognize ourselves, even if we don't want it, as Colombians. What a joy it is to see how these two women editors overcome every obstacle and every achievement achieved. For this year, they will be part of the Bogotá International Book Fair for the first time, they will share a stand with Lazo Libros, another tremendous publisher, and present their most recent publication, which will be released just for the start of the fair.

What is not impressive in the way everything has been given for the publisher? I have spoken to them from what I know, of course, but that does not deny that my judgments are objective. The work of ilona libros speaks for itself. For the sample, a button. I hope Noelia will give me the exclusive of the next book they're going to publish. She, more than anyone else, knows how proud I am to say that I am a friend of the editor of ilona libros.

It doesn't hurt to invite them to read their catalogue and crave books, in any of the bookstores they visit most often.

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