Centroamérica Cuenta: Club de Lectura con Gioconda Belli

In September 2026, the literary festival Centroamérica Cuenta brings its in-person edition to Spain, and Madrid hosts a special book club session with Nicaraguan poet and novelist Gioconda Belli. The event takes place at the Biblioteca Pública Municipal Francisco Ibáñez in the Chamartín district, where Belli will discuss her latest novel, *Un silencio lleno de murmullos* (2024). The book follows Valeria, a woman who made great sacrifices as an active protagonist in her country's political changes, and her daughter Penélope, who travels to Spain after Valeria's death to settle her affairs. Belli, who has been living in exile in Madrid since 2022, wrote the novel from her own experience as a mother and activist who lived through the rise and fall of the revolutionary dream.

Attendees can expect an intimate literary conversation with an author whose work has been translated into more than 20 languages. Belli is the author of eight novels and eight poetry books, and her memoir *El País bajo mi piel* was a finalist for the Los Ángeles Times Book Prize. Her many honors include the Premio Latinoamericano La Otra Orilla, the Premio Hermann Kesten, the Premio de poesía Jaime Gil de Biedma, and the Premio Reina Sofía de Poesía Iberoamericana. The session offers a chance to explore the novel's themes of exile, memory, and political struggle in a personal setting.