Book Fair Fever in Frankfurt

Books, business, discussions and art on an international stage

by

Good news first: Canada will be a guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair.

Bad news: We have to wait four years. 2020 is far away, but Livres Canada is already excited about it and posting the news on its website.

This year, Flanders (a part of Belgium where the people speak Dutch) and the Netherlands were the guests of honour at the book fair, which takes place every year in October. I attended this year. It took place from Oct. 19 to 23. The motto was, “This is What we Share.”

Germany shares the North Sea coast with these two regions, as well as a well developed literary scene, including authors like Margriet de Moor or Cees Noteboom from the Netherlands.

As I enter the guest pavilion of Flanders and the Netherlands I am surrounded by the sea: on huge pieces of fabric hanging from the ceiling are projections of a beach. The light changes and the waves are rolling in.

Chairs are set up in the room to sit down and relax – just what I need after a day of running around the book fair.

The Frankfurt Book Fair draws huge crowds. Almost nine times the population of the Yukon is visiting the Book Fair in five days: about 300,000 people. Editors, business people, book-buyers, artists, writers, bloggers, and me: one of 8,000 registered journalists.

I settle in a comfy chair, rest my feet and review the day: It started early by walking through the hall of international publishers: large publishing companies such as Simon and Schuster, Random House, and also small companies from Africa and Asia. Here it is all about business: selling rights for books.

The hustle and bustle of the business ended as I found my way to another hall: The Arts+, which is a new concept at this year’s book fair: fashion, design and fine art in one hall.

British artist David Hockney displayed his latest piece here: a complete collection of his artwork in a huge book. The book costs about 2,500 Euro and contains 62 years of Hockney’s work. It was set up on a stand so visitors could browse through it.

The Arts+ exhibition shows that books are not only about literature; they are about beauty, too. In an area named Beautiful Books, visitors could judge the most beautiful book. It was inspiring to browse through all these stunning books.

Discussions and readings were happening everywhere at the book fair. I moved on to listen to Turkish author Can Dündar talking about his newest book, We are Arrested. He was editor-in-chief for Cumhurriyet, which is a Turkish newspaper. Dündar was imprisoned because he wrote about things the government didn’t want publicized. In the discussion he talked about the freedom of the press and the circumstances in Turkey. His latest book is about politics in Turkey and his time in prison.

Freedom of the press and freedom of speech are huge topics at the book fair. Everywhere in Europe journalists losing their jobs, and newspapers – like recently in Hungary – are being shut down by government.

There are so many fascinating presentations, discussions and books at the Frankfurt Book Fair, that if you go, you need to decide what to focus on. But sometimes you find unexpected treasures, like I did when I walked by a stand of independent magazines.

“We have a magazine for redheads,” a representative at the magazine table told me, noting my red hair.

It is called MC1R and published by a German designer.

Because they sell some copies to the UK, USA and Canada, it is written in English, the editor in chief, Tristan Rodgers, told me.

I am astonished and fascinated by this well-created magazine. The topics are all about redhead-gatherings, issues like freckles and features of red haired artists. Tristan Rodgers and I had a nice chat about ginger issues and magazine-making. As I walked away to the Flanders and the Netherlands pavilion I felt inspired. And this was only the first day of the book fair.

Book Tips from the Frankfurt Book Fair

Born to Run, by Bruce Springsteen  

We Are Arrested, by Can Dündar

Discover Dutch authors Leon de Winter, Cees Noteboom, Margriet de Moor

MC1R Magazine: mc1r-magazine.com