The Organizing Committee of LéaLA – Spanish-Language Book Fair and Literary Festival – announced updates for its tenth edition, scheduled to close the summer of 2025. Under the theme “Let’s Build Peace Together,” LéaLA promotes pride in the Spanish language and in our cultures, making books and reading allies in encouraging dialogue and harmony. Because of its unique characteristics, it is the most ambitious program for the promotion of Spanish-language books and reading in the United States, celebrating its tenth edition by strengthening its format as a Book Fair, with exhibition areas featuring a wide range of Spanish-language publishers to bring titles to audiences of all kinds in Los Angeles. The 2025 edition of LéaLA is scheduled for the second weekend after Mexico’s Independence Day festivities and within Hispanic Heritage Month.
As in previous editions, writers and creators from Mexico, the United States, and other Ibero-American countries will engage in dialogue with the community during an intense and exciting four-day program. Once again, there will be free activities including conversations on literature, contemporary thought, film, humor, and creativity, with special emphasis on children and young audiences. In addition, the cultural offerings will feature a wide literary and editorial program, giving voice to poetry and the work of authors from both sides of the border, while also hosting children’s workshops and gatherings.
The festival is organized by the University of Guadalajara Foundation USA, with the support of philanthropist Pyrrha Gladys Grodman’s legacy. It will be held from Thursday, September 25 to Sunday, September 28 at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, located in the iconic Olvera Street, in the heart of Hispanic Los Angeles.
“Our 2025 theme, ‘Let’s Build Peace Together,’ is the spirit with which we aim to foster coexistence, solidarity, and conviction by creating spaces for thinking, debating, reflecting, and growing—all in harmony. With the support of all of you, I believe we have been achieving this, which inspires us to keep growing, proposing, and innovating,” said Marisol Schulz Manaut, general director of LéaLA.
“The support and presence of the Latino community at this cultural project has allowed LéaLA, over its ten editions, to help build audiences and reach a market that wishes to value and defend its own language,” she commented during a press conference including special guests and members of the media at LéaLA’s official kickoff event.
“University of Guadalajara Foundation USA has prepared an academic program within the Forum of Ideas, dedicated to the transformative power of education. On September 26, this Forum will offer a workshop and roundtable discussion focused on identifying alternatives to strengthen bilingual and bicultural education. The goal is clear: to promote equity, inclusion, and international academic collaboration through strategic partnerships between institutions in Mexico and California,” said Gustavo Padilla, president of the University of Guadalajara Foundation USA.
Special guests joining the event were Lydia Acosta Stephens, Executive Director of Multilingual & Multicultural Education Department at Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), Karla Estrada, Deputy Superintendent of Instruction LAUSD, Lourdes Ramirez Ortiz, Region East Superintendent LAUSD and Ambassador Carlos González Gutiérrez, Consul General of Mexico in Los Angeles.
The opening ceremony will take place on Thursday, September 25 at 4:00 PM, although children’s workshops, school visits, and the first scheduled activities will begin earlier that same day. The full agenda is already available on LéaLA’s social media and website.
On Friday, September 26, the film La Falla will be screened, a production that has circulated and left a mark in various festivals. It will be presented by its director, the talented filmmaker Alana Simões, who portrays the lives of children in the town of Acatic, Jalisco, as they say goodbye to their teacher and experience the impact of her departure.
At LéaLA 2025, in addition to film, there will be discussions about literary and graphic storytelling, literature, reading promotion, the writing process, and of course, literary genres. There will also be talks on uncomfortable books, featuring Chilean writer José Ignacio Valenzuela, “El Chascas,” and Xavier Velasco.
Other invited participants at LéaLA 2025 include María Baranda, Toño Malpica, Alberto Chimal, Raquel Castro, along with Los Angeles favorites Benito Taibo and Jorge F. Hernández. The agenda offers a plurality of themes, authors from multiple generations, and storytellers. All of them will engage in dialogue with attendees, celebrating the Spanish language in a fully free program.
A beloved space at LéaLA has been the Poetry Hub, where Gaspar Orozco and Ilana Luna share the microphone to present the work of voices from both sides of the border. Poets and the public come together and interact in a creative setting.
LéaLA is expanding to ten children’s workshops in partnership with the University of Guadalajara’s Letras para Volar initiative. This year, under the theme “Let’s Build Peace Together,” children will play and learn while reinforcing fundamental values of solidarity for our planet. There will be special talks for young people, parents, workshops with music and songs, and sessions with talented storytellers, all designed to spark and strengthen a love of reading in the youngest audiences. The full program and guest list will be announced on the event’s website, www.lea-la.com.
LéaLA has had a strong presence in the Los Angeles community following its successful editions at the Los Angeles Convention Center (2011, 2012, 2013, and 2015) and its 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, and 2024 editions at LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes. Public response, educational institutions, and media support have been key allies in this uniquely characterized event, with DirecTV now joining to support LéaLA’s tenth edition.
For the 2025 edition, LéaLA will maintain its tradition of closeness and accessibility to authors. Books by participating speakers and writers will be available to the public thanks to the Carlos Fuentes Bookstore of the University of Guadalajara, along with more than 40 publishing houses, offering a wide variety of Spanish-language titles at their exhibition and sales booths.
LéaLA – Spanish-Language Book Fair and Literary Festival 2025 is organized by the University of Guadalajara Foundation USA, with the support of the Grodman Legacy and in collaboration with the Consulate General of Mexico in Los Angeles and the University of Guadalajara Alumni Association in Los Angeles, as well as several public and private institutions on both sides of the border.
LéaLA – Spanish-Language Book Fair and Literary Festival
When: September 25–28, 2025, from 9 AM to 7 PM
Where: LA Plaza de Cultura y Artes, 501 N. Main St., Los Angeles, CA 90012
Website: www.lea-la.com
*All activities are free.
