On the day that marks the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974, the same day that the Buenos Aires International Book Fair opens, with Lisbon as the guest city of honor, there is no ceremony or initiative that evokes, or merely alludes to, this event and its celebration. In the days that follow, until the fair closes on May 12, the Carnation Revolution will continue to be absent from the program, being only indirectly targeted in an event that celebrates the "three Marias". "I didn't think about the possibility of evoking April 25, because we are far from the country, but not only for that reason, in fact, it is so present, it is so deeply rooted, completely, we are imbued with that spirit, that, otherwise, our presence would not be possible", explained Carla Quevedo. According to the curator, although the program does not directly evoke the moment that is strongly celebrated in Portugal today, and even reported by the foreign press, the mere fact that Lisbon is a guest of honor, that there is a Portuguese presence and "very significant female authors", and that one can speak freely is a celebration and an evocation of the moment. As an example, she mentioned a poetry reading session by Rosa de Oliveira, in the so-called professional conferences, which was translated as part of a project entitled "Escola de Outono", organized by the Argentine Translators Association, a collective of translators who translate their works together with the writers, in permanent contact with the author. "This work was done and the result was yesterday, in a session that was full. How would that be possible without April 25? Our entire presence here is only possible because the dictatorship ended", she said. The only initiative that the curator thought about more, which somehow crosses literature with April 25, was to "celebrate the 'three Marias', which will be more in the film cycle", which will show a documentary about the three authors of "Novas Cartas Portuguesas", Maria Velho da Costa, Maria Teresa Horta and Maria Isabel Barreno. "There is also an essay by Joana Meirim, called 'The essential about the three Marias', and there will be a conversation about literary works that are also political facts, based precisely on, and starting from, 'Novas Cartas Portuguesas' and the essay by Joana Meirim", she added. As for the curator's expectations for the event, which has its first day today, "they are high", due to the "range of very diversified and high-quality authors that can arouse the interest of the Argentine public, publishers, voters, the public in general". Carla Quevedo hopes that "people will join the proposed activities as much as possible, both at tables with only Portuguese authors, as well as at tables with Portuguese and Argentine authors" and, preferably, "that the interest that publishers may have in our authors translates into translations". "It would be ideal if our authors were translated and published here in Argentina, let's see, the economic conditions are not the best, we are in a moment that will probably be a transition, for this country, of structural change, or not, we don't know yet what it is, there is a great deal of uncertainty, but let's see. There is always a great deal of interest in culture, in cultural activities, in reading, let's see if it remains", she said. In addition to the country's economic situation and inflation, recent news reports that Argentines are stopping buying books, with a drop of about 30% in sales in January, which is explained by increasingly inaccessible publications, due to the high price of books, namely because of the increase in the price of paper, and low wages. The opening session takes place today at the end of the day, with a table that brings together two illustrators (André Letria and Sara Feio), two poets (Frederico Pedreira and Rosa Oliveira) and two comic book authors (Júlia Barata and Filipe Abranches), to talk about Lisbon, about what city it is, for each of them, and how it inspires them. The writer Afonso Reis Cabral, who was supposed to participate in this conversation, will not be able to be present for personal reasons, lamented Carla Quevedo, noting that the public presentation also scheduled for today of his novel "Pão de Açúcar", based on the murder of the transsexual Gisberta by a group of boys in Porto, was canceled. Carla Quevedo pointed out that, once again, this would be a conversation in which April would be present, because it speaks of identity, freedom and what still needs to be conquered, 50 years later. Also Read: Prémio Oceanos soma 2.627 livros candidatos em língua portuguesa (Portuguese version)