Madrid, March 5 (AP): Politicians, actors and writers began a marathon reading of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude today as part of events to celebrate the Colombian author’s 80th birthday.

Deputy Prime Minister Maria Teresa Fernandez de la Vega began the public reading from the steps of Madrid’s Casa de America cultural centre.

According to the Casa de America website (www.casaamerica.es), 80 Garcia Marquez fans will read some 15 minutes or roughly seven pages each from the Nobel Prize laureate’s masterpiece over 16 hours.

Garcia Marquez turns 80 tomorrow.