Literary festival inspires Gibraltar

2016-06-15 08:00:00

The third Gibunco Gibraltar International Literary Festival closed on 15 November.
A total of 55 talks and presentations took place during the four-day festival, covering genres such as history, sport, mystery, art, current affairs, multiculturalism and biographies.
The event gave writers the opportunity to talk first hand about their books, as well as allowing participants to ask the authors questions about their works.
Writers Iain Finlayson and William Chislett opened the first day with a workshop about non-fiction and a talk about British travellers in Spain in the 19th and 20th centuries respectively.
The writer and journalist John Carlin, who regularly writes for Spanish newspaper El País, spoke about Nelson Mandela, who he once met personally, and read from Mandela’s novel ‘Playing the Enemy’, which was turned into the film ‘Invictus.’
Writer, journalist and teacher, Christopher Lloyd, ran a series of children’s talks, which were popular with adults as well as younger participants. Children also got the opportunity to learn about the works of Shakespeare as well as the Magna Carta, the document signed by England’s King John I in 1215 and considered the origin of civil rights and freedoms in the western world.
Gibraltar’s First Minister, Fabian Picardo, presented the keynote speaker, writer and historian Peter Frankopan, who spoke about some of the main themes running through his book ‘The Silk Roads. A New History of the Word’, in which he proposes that the region is the centre of the first political idealogies, along with commerce and international culture. That it was this that helped to define the modern world.
All of the talks took place in some of Gibraltar’s most emblematic buildings, such as the Garrison Library, the Convent, King’s Chapel, the Town Hall, the Flamenca Synagogue, and the Sunborn and John Mackintosh hotels.
On Sunday, the synagogue hosted a service conducted by the Rabbi Abraham Levy, during which a minute’s silence was held for the victims of the recent terrorist attacks in Paris.
During his speech, the First Minister also expressed Gibraltar’s solidarity with the people of Paris. He went on to express his ‘deep gratitude’ to those who had attended the festival.
A number of local authors were also present at the event; Sam Benady and Mary Chiappe presented their mystery novel ‘The Dead Can’t Paint’, while mayor and former first minister, Adolfo Cánepa and writer Humbert Hernández, spoke about their personal experiences.
The festival also marked the 800-year anniversary of the Magna Carta by presenting a commemorative stamp.
The actress Maureen Lipman closed the ceremony by reading some of her most famous monologues and chefs Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer, from the London restaurant Honey & Co prepared a dinner for guests at the hotel La Caleta.source surinenglish