SALT LAKE CITY — Salt Lake City’s first bilingual book festival, Libro Fest, debuted Saturday at Sorenson Unity Center.
Libro Fest, which featured bilingual literature, panels and community activities, ran from 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. drawing readers, writers, and families.
Valeria Nunez and her husband Jaime Fuentealba were a part of the independent authors featured at the festival. Nunez writes children’s books in Spanish, while Fuentealba translates them into English.
“Hola! English or Español?” Valeria Nunez asked a kid who walked up to her booth.
“Do you girls like fairies?” Fuentealba asked a family during the event.
Nunez said she started writing children’s books years ago when she became a mother. The couple said they began publishing in both English and Spanish so their kids could hold on to their heritage.
“We had to put the effort in to teach them the language, otherwise they’ll forget it,” Fuentealba said.
Maria Guadarrama, the festival’s founder, said she started Libro Fest to help connect people in the community.
“Literacy rates are low in Utah, among those low rates are our Hispanic and Latino children. Being able to provide a space where children feel identified in literature, I think, is really important to boost their identity and education,” she said.
Guadarrama says the event was supported by the Salt Lake City Arts Council, the Salt Lake City Government ACE grant, and Avanza 88.3, Utah’s first bilingual public radio station.
For Nunez and Fuentealba, preserving language is about more than words.
“When we lose part of our culture, when we don’t put the effort, we’re leaving some empathy behind,” Fuentealba said. “When you have different cultures within you, which means more diversity, you’re able to have a bigger view of the world.”
