Introduction: The Task of the Editor

In 1975 the Frankfurter Buchmesse, considered by Europeans and Latin Americans the most important book fair held yearly in the Western world, was dedicated to Latin America. The council of Latin American editors charged its president with the task of delivering the inaugural speech at the fair's opening. Traditionally, Germany had been not only an avid consumer of Latin American literature and an important partner in cultural and economic exchanges, but its Social Democratic governments had also proven to be a central political ally to the Latin American left. That year's fair was a big moment for the Latin American book industry and for its writers. A few days prior to the opening of the fair, I remember hearing my father typing furiously in his library. After a day or two he emerged and handed me the speech he planned to deliver in Frankfurt. He asked me what I thought. I was ten years old. I said I liked it but that I did not understand why he had to explain that he was not bringing parrots and gold. Wasn't it a book fair he was delivering this speech at? He smiled with great satisfaction.