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Tegucigalpa– Honduran writer Cynthia Bernardus This Friday at the 2024 Third Honduras International Book Fair (FIL HONDURAS) advocates for more literature for indigenous and Afro-descendants.
“The truth is that very little literary production involves the indigenous and Afro-Honduran population from a worldview and an internal perspective, because indigenous literature is not the same as indigenous literature,” Bernardes told EFE after participating in the FIL HONDURAS dialogue “On the challenges and issues of children’s literature”.
He added that in Honduras there are books written by people other than indigenous and Afro-descendant people in which “we are considered subjects of study.”
In this sense, he noted that “it is necessary to promote literature among our people” because “we have the lowest reading rates, including at the educational level.”
He also stressed that “perhaps there is a need to reform the school curriculum while trying to influence our people through these activities.”
Bernárdez said that literary activity in his country is generally concentrated in major cities such as Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and Santa Rosa de Copán, “but we do not have these processes in the Mosquitia region, one of the most abandoned regions, inhabited by four ethnic groups.
«It is necessary to reach the Mosquitia region with our Miskito brothers so that they also become interested in these processes. It will be difficult to have a large body of indigenous and Afro-Honduran literature if we do not promote writing in these communities, ”he stressed.
Children’s literature needs to improve
Born in Santa Rosa de Aguaín, in the Caribbean province of Colón, Honduras, Bernárdez has a degree in education, with a major in educational administration and planning, and is the author of nine books, some on learning the mother tongue, others on stories and poetry.
The Honduran cultural manager also believes that it is necessary for Honduras to make progress in the field of children’s literature and develop training processes for the general public so that more people write stories.
Bernardes, author of the children’s book “Kakumen,” which tells the stories of the heroes and legends of the Garifuna people, who live mainly along the coast of Honduras in the Caribbean, said that new publishers and writers should also be supported so that more books can be published and more people can be encouraged to read.
“In this country, reading must be encouraged not only in schools but also in homes, providing spaces where people can go to a center and pick up a book to reinforce these processes,” he stressed.
Additionally, children should have “a space that has a variety of children’s books that are also written by national authors, so that they not only know the story of Little Red Riding Hood, but also other books written by national authors,” he said.
The second day of FIL HONDURAS featured, in addition to the “Move Your Feet Family Concert” by the Ajayu duo from Spain, a presentation of no less than 12 books by Honduran and Latin American authors; literary seminars, poetry readings and a presentation by “Roque Dalton in Mexico,” among other activities. JS
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