Ausstellungs- und Messe GmbH
Frankfurt Book Fair
Reineckstr. 3
60313 Frankfurt am Main
Germany
T +49 (0) 69 2102-0
F +49 (0) 69 2102-227/-277
info@book-fair.com
Where will the journey lead?
Discover new book and media worlds at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2009
Frankfurt, 10.9.2009 – Novels for the mobile phone, non-fiction books for e-readers, games for online communities and film adaptations for smart phones: The international book and media industries are in the midst of change. The challenge lies in conquering digital worlds, discovering foreign markets and developing new business models. With about 7,000 international publishers, businesses and institutions from 100 countries in attendance, the Frankfurt Book Fair (14 to 18 October 2009) is the ideal meeting place for discussing – and starting – the latest trends. Big names in the worlds of literature and television, politics and music wouldn’t miss this incomparable festival of books and content: Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel has announced that she will attend the opening ceremony in 2009. Frank Schätzing, Günter Grass and Richard von Weizsäcker are also expected at the Fair. International stars like Tim Parks, Margaret Atwood, Håkan Nesser, Leon de Winter, Donna Cross and Nick Cave will assemble in Frankfurt, as will the numerous authors from this year’s Guest of Honour China, who will include the Nobel Prize winner for literature Gao Xingjian, along with Mo Yan and Yu Hua.
On the Monday before the start of the Fair, the German Book Prize will be awarded for the fifth time in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche. So far, along with Herta Müller, Terézia Mora, Sybille Berg and Wolf Haas, 16 other authors appear on the longlist. Visitors can experience the newly selected prize winner, as well as the shortlist authors, live and up close at various Book Fair events — for example, in the Forum Fiction & Non-Fiction in Hall 3.1, in the Börsenblatt Café in Hall 4.0 or in the reading tent on the Agora. The reading by Günter Grass in the large Book Fair cinema in the Film & Media Forum (Forum Level 0) should be an additional highlight for all fans of prize-winning literature. Exactly 50 years ago, the Nobel Prize winner for literature introduced his novel “The Tin Drum” at the Frankfurt Book Fair. To mark this anniversary, Grass will make his novel ring at a special reading with percussion and tin drum accompaniment at 3.30 pm on the Friday of the Fair, which is his birthday. The film adaptation from 1980 will be screened following the reading.
In the Forum there will once again be the ARD television stage, on which interviews and discussions with directors and famous actors will take place. The ARD will also be represented on the Agora again with its glass studio, where interviews will be held with celebrities.
The Federal Republic of Germany is celebrating its 60th birthday and the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall in Germany. About 20 related events will take place at the Fair, among them the photography exhibition “A Wall Vanishes“. The Berlin photographer Henning Langenheim recorded filmstrip-like sequences as the Wall came down. One part of this series will be presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in Hall 4.1 in aisles N and Q directly across from the Centre for Photography.
China is the Guest of Honour at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair. The appearance, under the motto “Tradition and Innovation”, is being eagerly anticipated: More than 50 authors and nearly 300 publishers and agents from China are expected; a total of around 2,000 people will arrive from China. More than 450 events will take place relating to China — about half of which will be organised by independent institutions, publishers, associations and NGOs. “The interest in China is enormous”, says Juergen Boos, Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair. “This is a unique moment to get into a conversation with China – about literature and culture, but also about the economy and politics.” Authors like Mo Yan, Yu Hua and Gao Xingjian represent the highest literary quality; young authors like Liu Zhenyun, Feng Li or the filmmaker and author Guo Xiaolu could become a discovery for many readers. Literati from Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau, will be represented, and the subject of Tibet is represented in the novels of the writer Alai, “Ferne Quellen” (Distant Sources) and “Roter Mohn” (“Red Poppies”).
Industrialisation, China & Africa, freedom of expression – the events surrounding the Guest of Honour China clearly demonstrate that literature always has a political component. As an established meeting place for international dialogue, the Forum Dialogue (Hall 6.1 E 913) has a particularly fascinating programme on offer. On the Sunday of the Fair, the event “The Forbidden Reading” at 2.00 pm will focus on political literature from Tibet. German actor Hannes Jaenicke and additional guests will read from the works of well-known Tibetan authors who provide an account of their country.
On the Wednesday of the Fair, the International Centre (Hall 5.0 D 901) will focus on how China is dealing with the freedom of expression and the freedom to publish. “Freedom of Speech” is the title of the event, which begins at 12.15 pm. On the Friday of the Fair, China will actually be the focus of the International Centre for the entire day in professional dialogues and discussions. One of the most fascinating events of this day should be the discussion with the Nobel Prize winner for Literature Gao Xingjian and the poet Yang Lian. Xingjian, who is resident in Paris, and Lian, who lives in London, will relate what it is like to live and to write in two different cultures in “At Home in the between” starting at 4.30 pm.
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the biggest book fair in the world – with more than 7,000 exhibitors from over 100 countries. It also organises the participation of German publishers at more than 25 international book fairs and is associated with the Cape Town Book Fair in South Africa and the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. It maintains the most visited website worldwide for the publishing industry at www.book-fair.com. The Frankfurt Book Fair is a subsidiary of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association.
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