2024-05-10 04:22:54
The World of Books Prague fair and literary festival, which will take place from May 23rd to 26th again at the Exhibition Center, will welcome several foreign literary stars. The Russian exile writer Lyudmila Ulicka, the German novelist Bernhard Schlink, the Irish bestseller John Boyne or the star of Nordic crime fiction Alex Ahndoril, a married duo formerly working under the pseudonym Lars Kepler, will come.
This year, for the first time, the event will welcome over 800 exhibitors. “That’s a number we’ve never reached. We’ll have fifteen percent more exhibitors, more exhibition space, and the number of participating countries has jumped from thirty to forty,” calculates fair director Radovan Auer.
According to him, the increase is related to the preparation of the Czech hosting at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2026. “This is, to put it simply, an Olympics in the book world, and the interest in Czech literature has increased greatly, which we must try to make the most of,” adds Auer.
Fair director Radovan Auer in 2018. | Photo: Michaela Danelová
The invitation to the festival was accepted by the Irish writer John Boyne, author of the bestseller The Boy in the Striped Pajamas. An insight into the atrocities of the concentration camp through the eyes of the commander’s young son was made into a film in 2008 directed by Mark Herman.
Boyne will debate in Prague with illustrator Marto Kelbl about an LGBTQ+ publication that is also suitable for children. He will also present his latest prose, The Elements, which will be published in Czech in the fall.
Russian writer Ljudmila Ulická will come from German exile, where she has been living since 2021. “She will talk not only about the war, but also about Russian identity,” describes the festival’s dramaturg Guillaume Basset. In Ulicka, where the prose Jákobův žebřík was last published in Czech, a debate about culture on the fringes awaits in Prague, among other things, with the Russian-writing writer of Armenian origin Narine Abgarjanová, author of the novel Three apples fell from the sky.
Alexis Nolent, the author of comics, novels and scripts for the video game Assassin’s Creed, known under the pseudonym Matz, will also visit Prague. Based on his series The Killer, last year David Fincher’s film of the same name was made for Netflix. “Also this year, the Jiří Theiner Award will be presented to the Turkish writer Elif Shafak,” adds Basset. According to him, this author and defender of human rights and freedom of speech is not afraid of controversial topics of identity, culture, politics or gender in her engaging texts.
The Nordic crime drama will be represented by married couple Alexandra Coelho Ahndorilová and Alexander Ahndoril, who are known for the series with the main character Commissioner Joona Linna. They published it together under the name Lars Kepler.
At the Book World, the couple will introduce themselves under their other pseudonym, Alex Ahndoril. Last year, they also signed the Czech-published book Až najdu klích under this name. “He will tell the readers what made them go on the other tracks of the crime in the trilogy of classic detective stories. Czech fans of the suspenseful genre will get the second part of Close Your Eyes in Prayer this year,” announce the organizers.
Literature from German-speaking countries
The guest of honor at the 29th edition of the fair will be the Das Buch project, which includes all German-language literature. Authors from Germany, Austria and Switzerland will meet at one stand, just like last year. “Visitors will be able to play or download the Playing Kafka game on their mobile devices, which was created by the independent studio Charles Games on the occasion of the fair. In the children’s corner, origami will be made, adults and children will be able to learn to draw comics, brush up on their German or try a yodeling course,” calculates Eva Lockl from the Swiss Embassy.
According to her, the stand will sell original German books, Czech translations and German textbooks. The stand will include a mobile cafe and an area for autographs. “We tried to make the stand reminiscent of a Viennese café from the time of Franz Kafka,” he adds.
At the invitation of the Das Buch project, Tonio Schachinger, last year’s winner of the German Book Prize for the novel Echtzeitalter, will come to the fair. It confronts two different worlds, the “analog” environment of the elite Viennese high school and the digital world of online video games. This book is still looking for a Czech publisher.
The leading German novelist and lawyer Bernhard Schlink, author of the novel The Narrator, based on which the 2008 Oscar-winning film starring Kate Winslet, will give a talk at the World of Books.
Comic author Josephine Marková bases her work for young people on a combination of different emotions. The German Tanya Stewnerová also writes for children, who captivates them with her fantasy novel series Alea – the girl of the sea. The Czech philosopher Tereza Matějčková will lead a debate with the Swiss author Barbara Schmitzová, whose life confronted her with suicide in her family and raising a disabled child, who nonetheless happily embraces life. Her book entitled What life is worth living has just been published by Karolinum in Matějček’s translation.
The most translated Swiss author Peter Stamm will speak with the Flemish novelist Stefan Hertmans. Michael Stavarič will present himself in an interview with Radka Denemarková at the Das Buch stand. Berlin-based author Judith Hermann will present a personal book of lectures entitled Všechno býsmo si zejla, which will be published by the Větrné mlyny publishing house.
Debates on Kafka
Austrian cartoonist and illustrator Nicolas Mahler, who collaborated with Jaroslav Rudiš, will present his new comic about Franz Kafka called Kafka in a Cube. This performance thematically fits into another program part of the fair, this year commemorating the 100th anniversary of Kafka’s death. His quote that “the book must be an ax to the frozen sea in us” was chosen by the organizers as the motto of the year.
There will be discussions about Kafka’s work and those it inspired. The program in the Kafka Hall will begin with a talk by the literary scholar Reiner Stach, whose three-volume biography of Kafka was also published in Czech, with the translator and diplomat Tomáš Kafka. The Kafka Band, featuring Jaroslav Rudiš, will provide a musical experience on May 23 at the opening concert for the public. A cabaret performance will also be part of the Kafka program.
In addition, at this year’s World of Books, North Korean refugee Pak Ji-hyeon will talk with Che Serin, who wrote her story in the book My Life in North Korea. The topic of gender and identity will be developed by the French writer Pauline Delabroy-Allard. The Polish School of Literary Reportage will be represented by Mariusz Szczygieł.
There will also be Czech authors. Four-time winner of the Magnesia Litera award Radka Denemarková will talk about her latest novel Chocolate Blood, Bianca Bellová about the collection of short stories Transfer and, for example, Alexei Sevruk about the European, in which he glimpsed the impact of the great history of Eastern Europe through the memories of his grandmother.
Alena Machoninová, recent winner of the Magnesia Litera for her personal novel Hella, or former politician Kateřina Bursíková Jacques with Sinologist Kateřina Procházková will also perform. Together they will present a book about the Dalai Lama’s visits to the Czech Republic.
Ecology is also important
At the same time, the world of books is trying to start the rights market in the Czech Republic. “Already last year, we decided to become a showcase of Central and Eastern Europe for the rest of the world, and we prepared a book market that takes place a bit separately in a separate pavilion, but is also closely connected with the fair,” says director Radovan Auer, describing the professional part of the event called Central and East European Book Market.
Its guests this year will be the heavyweights of the book market, such as the director of the Frankfurt fair, Juergen Boos, or the new head of the Leipzig fair, Astrid Böhmisch. “This part serves as a platform for meeting and exchanging experiences for professionals from the book industry, especially from Central and Eastern European countries, and at the same time it is a platform for trade in foreign book rights,” explains project coordinator Jitka Hanušová.
Juergen Boos has been the head of the Frankfurt Book Fair since 2005. | Photo: Reuters
Over 90 industry professionals have already registered. “There is also interest in individual business meetings. I am constantly adding tables to the table, where the participants mutually agree on them, which is great,” mentions Hanušová. According to her, more professional discussions will also be part of this program, for example a panel debate on so-called bibliodiversity, but the wider public could also appreciate it.
According to director Radovan Auer, the organizers are also making sure that the Book World is greener than before. “We will have returnable cups for hot and cold drinks, we will sell ecological diaries that leave no carbon footprint. We really see ecology as an important topic for the mass event, which will be attended by approximately sixty thousand visitors over the course of four days,” Auer also indicates the expected attendance .
The year before last, a record 55,000 people came to the Exhibition Center for books, last year there were almost 60,000 visitors.
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