Frankfurt Fair - friendly country Slovenia

2023-10-18 15:27:54, Kosova & Bota CNA

Frankfurt Fair - friendly country Slovenia

The 75th edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair

This year the Frankfurt Fair gathers more than 4,200 publishers from 95 countries until October 22. Thousands of new publications are presented at the stands of publishing houses. More than 6,000 media representatives traveled to Frankfurt. The invited friendly country is Slovenia. The start of this book celebration is marked by the awarding of the German Book Prize, which for 2023 was awarded to the Austrian writer, Tonio Schachinger. His novel "In Live Time" tells the story of a Viennese teenager who conquers the world with computer games. This price is estimated at 25,000 euros. The highlight of the Frankfurt Fair is the awarding of the Peace Prize of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association 2023 at the Paul Church to the renowned writer, Salman Ruzhdie. The Indian-British writer was seriously injured a year ago after an assassination attempt. The tribute speech for Ruzhdie is given by the German writer, Daniel Kehlmann. Last year, the well-known Ukrainian writer, Serhij Zhardan, received this award.

Frankfurt Fair - friendly country Slovenia

This year Frankfurt has invited Slovenia with two million inhabitants as a friendly country, a country with a large number of poets and a long tradition of beekeeping. That's why "Words of Hojev" has been chosen as the motto of Slovenia's presentation. One of the well-known authors among the 70 guests is Drago Jancar, who recently published the novel "When the world was created". In conversation with Deutsche Wellen, Jancar says, that "I can't be silent when I see that something doesn't make you feel good". About the experience in the former system in his country he says that he was "never happy". "I know the difference between an authoritarian, totalitarian, and undemocratic system, and a democracy." Slovenia, once part of socialist Yugoslavia, is today a member of NATO and the EU, part of the Eurozone.

Even before the opening of the Fair, the brutal attack by Hamas cast a shadow over it. Hamas is categorized by Germany, the US, Israel and other countries as a terrorist organization. The program of the fair does not change, however more Israeli voices will be heard, announced the director of the Frankfurt Fair, Jürgen Boos.

Frankfurt Fair - friendly country Slovenia

The first fair in 1949

The Frankfurt Fair opened its doors for the first time in 1949, as a sign of the resumption of cultural life in Germany after the Second World War. In its first edition only 205 German publishers came, today it is the world's largest book fair and an international symbol. From time to time the fair has been rocked by scandals and strong debates. Already in 1959 Günter Grass with his novel "Tin Drum" caused great debates, while in 1998 it was a speech by Martin Walser after receiving the Peace Prize that caused a strong wave of reactions.

The writer criticized there that the National Socialist past is kept in front of the Germans' eyes, and that this does not help to constantly keep the National Socialist era in critical memory. The head of the Central Council of Jews, Ignatz Bubis then accused Walser of "spiritual arson". And in 2017, there was a big debate about the permission granted to publishing houses with a right-wing extremist background. In 2021, some black authors canceled their visit to the fair for security reasons. However, the Corona pandemic forced the fair to abandon the presentation in giant halls to be presented virtually.

Frankfurt Fair - friendly country Slovenia

Among the most important topics at the fair this year are artificial intelligence, climate change and the fight against populism and extremism. Even the strengthening of the German populist party, AfD, the war in Ukraine and the escalation of the crisis in the Middle East will be part of the discussions on the many podiums of the fair.