This year’s Frankfurt Book Fair could be more political than it has been for a long time. In view of numerous crises, the world’s largest book fair wants to create a space for peaceful and democratic exchange.
This year’s book fair in Frankfurt started with a royal visit and appeals for a stronger democratic discourse. The Spanish royal couple and Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier came to the opening ceremony on Tuesday evening.
“It is a privilege to be here,” said King Felipe VI. He and his wife, Queen Letizia, represent this year’s guest country. It is an honor that Spain has been invited once again to show its literature, its languages and its “sparkling creativity” – in this “European and cultural showcase”.
Meanwhile, the organizers of the book fair emphasized that the world’s largest book fair should be a place of discourse and togetherness in times of crisis and instability. “Presence helps against polarization,” said director Juergen Boos.
“Counter model to an echo chamber”
Mapping social developments and tensions is one of the core tasks of the industry. This is the only way to counteract a poisoned culture of debate, strengthen democratic discourse and give diversity a stage. And, according to Boos: “The book fair is the counter-model to an echo chamber.”
Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, head of the German Book Trade Association, spoke of a “cultural event for international understanding”. In a world in which ever deeper rifts are emerging, space is being created for peaceful, democratic exchange.
After two years with restrictions due to the pandemic, the 74th Frankfurt Book Fair is taking place again without any major restrictions. According to the information, around 4,000 exhibitors from 95 countries have registered.
Numerous debates, lectures and readings this week deal with current political issues such as the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine or the situation in Iran and Afghanistan. For example, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is online at an event on Thursday. His wife Olena Selenska will be present at an interview on Saturday via the Internet.
Peace Prize for the Ukrainian Serhij Zhadan
Steinmeier called for solidarity with the Ukrainian book industry on Tuesday evening. “The destruction of libraries, of publishing houses, the serious consequences that the war has for the entire book and publishing industry in Ukraine, we shouldn’t just be outraged, it should motivate us all to help and support,” said the Federal President . The material help that is urgently needed there is also, in a very deep sense, a service to the truth, “an act in the fight against murderous lies” and in the fight for enlightenment.
In the next few days, Federal Minister of the Interior Nancy Faeser (SPD), Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens), actress Diane Kruger and, of course, numerous authors from all over the world, including Donna Leon, are also expected. But she doesn’t want to present a new thriller, but rather report on her life and work. The fair ends on Sunday with the presentation of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade to the Ukrainian writer Serhij Zhadan.
Spain had already been the guest of honor at the fair 31 years ago. “The Spain of today doesn’t have much in common with the Spain of that time,” said King Felipe. In particular, the entry into the EU in 1986 led to far-reaching changes. Spain is a strong and open country, able to face the challenges. In times of change, there is something that doesn’t change: the appreciation for books. The king emphasized that she was deeply rooted in Spanish society.
Printing and paper industries are suffering from rising prices
Director Schmidt-Friderichs also took a look at the difficult situation in the book industry on Tuesday. “Rising energy prices not only burden every company, they also result in extreme price increases in the printing and paper industry,” she said. “If a publisher now has to spend significantly more on the production of a book, it can mean that they simply cannot afford it.” And if a bookshop has to cope with an increase of 300 percent in energy costs, then it could face existential difficulties.
In the first nine months, the book market – across all sales channels – was down 1.4 percent on the same period of the previous year. Compared to the same period before Corona, it is 2.0 percent behind. The situation for local bookstores is even worse: In the first nine months of 2022, the stationary bookstores made 8.7 percent less sales than before Corona.
One focus this year is translation: “At least half of the books that have meant the most to me in my life have been written in languages I can’t read myself,” said British-Pakistani writer Mohsin Hamid on Tuesday . Without translators he would be neither the reader nor the writer he is today. (dpa)