The fifth “BorgesPalooza” — a literary festival that runs from Thursday to Saturday at the San Martín Cultural Center — gathers both emerging and established writers and artists to honor and discuss the work of Jorge Luis Borges, featuring themes like the new generations, democracy, poetry, and female characters in his work. 

“The worst we can do with Borges is to leave him as an inert, fixed matter, like an act of faith,” said organizer Daniel Mecca. 

The festival aims to cover all the aspects of the author of Fictions, with open conferences, presentations, and debates around Borges and his connection with younger generations — there’s a “Borges for Centennials” conference on Friday —  as well as conversations regarding issues like the 40th anniversary of democracy

The list of participant writers is as diverse as the multiple ways to approach the author. Together with Juan José Becerra, who will give the inaugural conference on Thursday evening, the event will feature Tamara Tenenbaum, Alejandra Kamiya, Felipe “Yuyo” Noé, Cecilia Pavón, Mauro Libertella, Miguel Gaya, Mercedes Halfon, Daniel Guebel, Osvaldo Bossi, Julieta Mortati, Paula Vázquez, Sol Fantin, Staner, Tink, Eros, Agustina Caride, Villy, Brian Majlin, Patricio Rago, Tomás Rosner, Roberto Mansilla, Memes borgeanos, Cecilia Fanti, Enzo Maqueira and Luciana Reif.

The BorgesPalooza will also include an exhibition of “Borgean freestyle,” together with a book fair, lotteries to win Borges T-shirts and books, short story readings (with actress Mercedes Morán) and the live painting of the first “Borgean skateboard”.  

According to Mecca, the festival aims to build on an existing base: “Borges is already a ‘pop beast,’” he said, referencing the popular Argentine rock song La bestia pop. “The solemnity around his figure can repel readers, mostly younger ones. But if there is one writer who can blow up your imagination, that’s Borges. Just think of short stories like The Garden of Forking Paths and its quantum parallel universes, which one can associate with ideas currently addressed in series like Rick and Morty.”

Since its inception in 2020, the festival’s goal is to bring Borges closer to a new generation of readers, addressing his work from new perspectives and stripping the solemnity off his figure. According to Mecca, “In the end, in Borges’ work, the future has come a long time ago”. 

The full program of BorgesPalooza can be found at https://borgespalooza.com/.

—with information from Télam