Casa de las Américas Unveils February 2026 Program for Havana Book Fair

Casa de las Américas has published a compact but consequential February program in Havana that lines up conferences, concerts, exhibitions and activities tied to the 34th Havana International Book Fair. The calendar maps the institution’s offerings onto the Book Fair schedule and flags collaborations and tributes that matter to writers, publishers and cultural organizers across the island.

The 34th Havana International Book Fair will run from February 12 to 22, 2026, at the Morro-Cabaña Military Historical Park under the guiding principle of José Martí: “Reading is Growing.” Casa de las Américas, founded by Haydee Santamaria in 1959 and long known among intellectuals as “The House”, included Book Fair-related events among February listings, signaling a busy fortnight for Havana’s literary circuit.

Program highlights in the available calendar include a partial entry listed as “Feb 3: Launch of a conference se”, the listing is truncated and the full title and details were not provided in the calendar excerpt. The omission leaves a gap in the public schedule ahead of the Fair, but the rest of the known activity frames the broader cultural moment: special tributes paid during the Book Fair to Marilyn Bobes and José Bell Lara, programming that will bring attention to established Cuban figures and to conversations about contemporary letters.

Marilyn Bobes is one of the named honorees. Born in Havana in 1955, Bobes is a journalist and writer whose awards include the David Poetry Prize (1979), the Casa de las Américas Short Story Prize (1995) for her book "Someone Has to Cry," the Casa de las Américas Novel Prize (2005) for "Winter Fever," the José Antonio Fernández de Castro National Cultural Journalism Prize (2008), and the Julio Cortázar Ibero-American Prize (2016), among other international accolades. The calendar notes do not provide further biographical detail for José Bell Lara.

The program also records a cultural visit to Ediciones Vigía, described as a unique publishing house that produces handmade paper and first edition copies of books. Only 200 copies of each book are made so each is a collector’s item. The visit included meetings with the director, publishers and artists, a reminder that small-press craft and book-arts remain central to Havana’s collector and bibliophile communities.

Looking ahead beyond February, organizers are already soliciting participation in next year’s digital strand. “The Organizing Committee of the 35th Havana International Book Fair and Cubaliteraria Publishing House invite publishers, universities, research centers, tech startups, creative collectives, and national and international specialists to submit proposals for participation in Cuba Digital 2027. This event will be held from February 11 to 21, 2027, at the Morro-Cabaña Military Historical Park in Havana, as part of the official program of the Fair.” That call opens direct pathways for publishers, academic units, creative teams and tech groups to shape the digital programming of the 35th Fair.

For Havana’s cultural community the calendar confirms a rhythm of anchored in-person events and collectible small-press activity as the Book Fair approaches. Mark the Book Fair dates, watch for the full Casa de las Américas schedule to fill in the truncated Feb 3 entry, and note the Cuba Digital 2027 invitation if you represent a publisher, university, research center, tech startup, creative collective or specialist planning proposals. The House is setting the stage for conversations, tributes and collectible books that will steer Havana’s literary scene through February and into next year.