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Vargas Llosa to open Guadalajara Book Fair in its 30th year

Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa, who turned 80 this year, is being honored at the 2016 Guadalajara Book Fair

The Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL) is celebrating its 30-year anniversary with a program featuring Latin America as guest of honor and welcoming 650 writers from 44 countries.

FIL is the second-largest book fair worldwide in terms of both publishers and visitors, attracting an international exhibitor list and drawing a large audience with its programs for adults and kids alike.

For the 2016 edition, which begins November 26, Nobel laureate Mario Vargas Llosa will take the stage in the opening of the literary program, which will honor the Peruvian author's 80th birthday.

James Dashner, author of "Maze Runner," and George R.R. Martin ("A Song of Ice and Fire") are also set to take part.

Two thousand publishers from 44 countries will present more than 600 new works, including Carlos Fuentes's posthumous novel "Aquiles o el guerrillero y el asesino," "El laberinto de los espíritus" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and the official biography of Café Tacuba, which will be launched by music journalist Enrique Blanc with the group present.

The program devoted to guest of honor Latin America will feature more than 120 authors, while the Guest of Honor pavilion will celebrate the region's cultural diversity with a kaleidoscope design housing a library, an auditorium, an area for short films and a space dedicated to native languages.

The festival's activities will extend beyond the walls of the fair, with outside events including a Latin American contemporary and modern art exposition at the University of Guadalajara's Museum of Arts and an Ibero-American folk art exhibit at the Regional Museum of Guadalajara.

Not only an industry fair but a major public event, the FIL will offer 80 events for kids and will feature comics and e-books among more than 400,000 books in 23 languages.

The fair runs November 26 - December 4.

www.fil.com.mx/ingles