María Angélica Barreto Gimenez, Editor, Camelia Ediciones, Caracas, Venezuela

Frankfurt Book Fair: What drew you to launching your publishing house?

María Angélica Barreto Gimenez: The idea of founding a publishing house for children based around a social project seemed quite original. Through "Books of Cement", we obtained the copyrights for three titles from the Milton collection by Haydee Ardalan from "La joie de lire". These books were wrapped in scaled-down cement bags and handed out to the communities of the cement manufacturing plant, with a handbook of activities and some posters. We were entitled to part of the edition and started with these three translations. After that, it has been a chain formed by random links between friends whom we discovered along the way, from a photographer with his blog, to some books drawn on a napkin. Our guiding line is perhaps that we back new proposals and are on the lookout for new talents. From there on, our catalogue consists of original books with a very distinctive graphical image.

Camelia Ediciones publishes children´s books by Venezuelan, Latin American and Spanish authors. What would you say is unique about children´s literature from that region?

Children's literature from our region stands out for its concern for social problems, rescuing oral traditions and daring to try out new ideas.

What do you expect to gain from the Invitation Programme?

It is a wonderful opportunity! We would have never been able to participate in the Frankfurt Book Fair without it. We would like to meet other editors, interchange ideas, share experiences and establish relations with the German editorial milieu.

You have never been to Frankfurt Book Fair before. What are your expectations in coming to the Fair and what are you looking forward to the most?

Camelia Ediciones publishes books for children and young readers and was founded in November 1999 by María Angélica Barreto (graphic designer) and Javier Aizpurua (printer). Together, they offer a diverse and original editorial line of books that do not constitute a collection, but respond to a form and specific text. Philosophers, photographers, designers, artists and musicians are some of the authors and illustrators that have been incorporated in Camelia's catalogue in its permanent search for new talents.