The 25th Guadalajara International Book Fair (Feria internacional del libro, or FIL) opened on Saturday, November 26, 2011 and will continue through December 4, 2011. The fair is a substantial literary and cultural festival that drew over eight million visitors last year, including 182 literary agents and representatives of 1,928 publishing houses from 43 countries.

The book fair is primarily geared toward Spanish language literature, but other languages materials (such as those in English) are also on display and for sale.

Germany is the country of honor for the event this year. Thus, the festival will include a German cultural program including live shows, talks, film screenings, and art exhibits.

The Romanian-born German author Herta Müller will attend to debate Peruvian author Mario Vargas Llosa. Both Nobel Prize winners, their debate is not to be missed.

Here is more information about the Guadalajara Book Fair, Herta Müller and Mario Vargas Llosa:

-The official FIL website is available here (in English and Spanish).

-Here is a brief news release from the Guadalajara Reporter about the fair (in English).

-The Goethe Institut in Mexico has several pages devoted to the events calendar for German cultural events at the fair (in German and Spanish).

–Deutsche Welle has a news story from 2010 about the fair (in German).

-A brief biography of Herta Müller is available on the Nobel Prize’s official website (in English). The New York Times also published an interesting article about her when she won the Nobel Prize in 2009.

-Mario Vargas Llosa’s biography is also available on the Nobel Prize’s official website (in English). Here is the New York Times article about his Nobel prize (in English).

-The International Publishers Association (IPA) has a list of many different major international book fairs (in English).