2023-04-27 16:15:35
After a three-year break from the pandemic, the Leipzig Book Fair is returning to the city. After this long time, however, there can be no question of initial difficulties.
The Leipzig Book Fair had hardly opened its doors on Thursday morning when numerous visitors streamed into the glass fair. Small and large publishers were eagerly awaiting them in the halls. “It’s a great feeling, we were all looking forward to it,” said Patricia Kessler from the Droemer Knaur publishing group. There were many innovations in the industry to be discovered. “We believe that it will be a successful trade fair,” says Kessler.
After a three-year break due to the pandemic, the book fair in Leipzig officially opened on Wednesday evening. “The encounter with fans, with contract colleagues, with authors – that was missing,” said Kessler. According to the trade fair, a total of 2082 exhibitors from 40 countries will present themselves by Sunday. Austria is the guest country with around 200 authors.
Smaller publishers too
Sebastian Wolter from the Mecklenburg publishers Katapult Verlag did not expect that so many visitors would be there on the first day of the fair: “I actually didn’t expect such a rush until the weekend.”
Exhibitors from smaller publishers are also looking forward to being able to show their new products in Leipzig again this year. “It was clear that there would be a farewell to books. However, the changing economic conditions are making it increasingly difficult for us,” said Stefan Fassel-Wenz, owner of Wenz Verlag in Dreieich, Hesse.
Everything is “almost the same as always,” is how Hans-Jürgen Beier from the Beier & Beran publishing house in Langenweißbach, Saxony, described the mood at the beginning of the book fair. The publisher says he was not worried about whether many visitors would come. After such a long break, however, he expected that there would be one or the other organizational glitch. “But that hasn’t been the case until now. It’s all well organized.”
Joachim Gauck presents “Shocks”.
In addition to the numerous publishers, well-known faces also came to the opening of the fair. Among other things, former Federal President Joachim Gauck presented his new book “Shocks. What threatens our democracy from the outside and inside”, which he wrote together with the publicist Helga Hirsch. In it, they deal with both foreign policy and domestic policy developments. “I would like us to name the problems in the middle of society,” said Gauck.
Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth also spoke at the fair on Thursday. This is a “place of culture of democracy,” said the Green politician. In times of war and crisis, culture plays a special role. “Artists give democracy a voice.”
The Leipzig Book Fair Prize was also to be awarded on Thursday afternoon in Leipzig. It is awarded in the three categories of fiction, non-fiction/essay writing and translation and is endowed with a total of 60,000 euros. Clemens J. Setz (“Moons Before Landing”), Joshua Groß (“Prana Extreme”), Ulrike Draesner (“The Transformed”), Dinçer Güçyeter (“Our German Fairy Tale”) and Angela Steidele ( “Enlightenment. A Novel”) hope for the prestigious award. (dpa)
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