November 12 is a special date for all literature lovers: National Book Day. Unlike International Book Day, celebrated every April 23, the day of the year’s penultimate month has a special meaning for Mexican readers.
National Book Day in Mexico: Why is it celebrated on November 12?
On November 12, 1980, by the presidential decree of José López Portillo, National Book Day was commemorated for the first time. This date was chosen to honor the birth of the so-called “Tenth Muse,” Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, the greatest exponent of Mexican literature and poetry.
The former Mexican president’s relationship with art and literature was complex and contradictory, to say the least, throughout his six-year term (1976 – 1982).
His grandfather was the distinguished writer José López Portillo y Rojas, who was also director of the Mexican Academy of Language from 1916 to 1923, so the former president grew up in a highly cultured and literary environment.
However, despite openly promoting discourse in favor of art and literature, he received serious accusations of trying to monopolize the country’s cultural production, to the benefit of his sister, Margarita López Portillo, a former student of the writer Agustín Yáñez, author of the novel Toña Machetes and poetess.
In addition, Margarita López Portillo’s great veneration of Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz was well known, a characteristic that earned her the nickname “The Terrible Muse” among her enemies in the Mexican cultural sector.
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