Anticipation and joy are bound to be the two prevailing emotions when the gates to the Frankfurt Book Fair open this morning – Initially only for the trade public from all over the world, then, starting on Saturday, for the general public as well. Anticipation, because it will be exciting to see how the book fair has emerged from the Corona pandemic, and joy because many of the tradeshow participants will be able to meet in person for the first time in three years at the world’s most important book fair. For, pre- and post-pandemic, Frankfurt still is the most important marketplace for new publications from all over the world, as well as a place to discover and discuss industry news and the major trends in the international book industry. Last year, a much smaller version of the fair was held: Although Germany’s Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe participated, the major international publishers, including Penguin Random House’s English- and Spanish-language publishers, were not yet back in Frankfurt.
Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe
When writers, readers, media and publishing people connect again in Frankfurt today through Sunday to talk about new books and trends, our colleagues from Penguin Random House Verlagsgruppe and their authors are practically omnipresent. Be it the “30-Minuten-WG” (“Roommates for 30 Minutes”) stage at Verlagsgruppe’s large joint booth D21 in Hall 3.0, the “ARD Stage,” the “Blue Sofa,” the “Guest Country Forum,” or other podiums across the trade fair grounds and the city of Frankfurt itself: Authors from our German publishing group are represented in Frankfurt this year with more than 100 public appearances featuring authors Abdulrazak Gurnah, Dörte Hansen, John Burnside, Amelie Fried, Andrea Wulf, Melanie Raabe, Richard David Precht, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Philipp Lahm, Takis Würger, Stefanie Stahl, Ian Kershaw, Charlotte Link, Wladimir Kaminer, Bernhard Hennen, Alex Beer, Aslı Erdoğan, Titus Müller, and many others.Guest of Honor: Spain
This year’s Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair is Spain, for the first time since 1991. Some 200 Spanish writers, illustrators, publishers, editors, and translators have come to Frankfurt for the occasion – many of them from Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, the world’s largest Spanish-language book publishing group. Under the motto “Creatividad Desbordante” (Spain – Overflowing [with] Creativity), they will present the latest developments and trends in the literary and cultural life of their homeland to the international trade audience in numerous readings and panel discussions starting today. One highlight of Spain’s appearance takes place this morning: At 10 a.m., King Felipe VI and Queen Letizia of Spain will visit the fair and make a stop at the Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial stand, where they will be welcomed by Markus Dohle, CEO of Penguin Random House, and Núria Cabutí, CEO of Grupo Editorial. Yesterday evening, the Spanish royal couple had joined German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in inaugurating this year’s book fair.Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial authors in Frankfurt include Arturo Perez Reverte, Bernardo Atxaga, Julia Navarro, Juan Luis Arsuaga, Juan José Millas, Carmen Balcells, Rosa Montero, Carme Riera, María Dueñas, Santiago Posteguillo, and Maria Hesse. Among the Spanish authors in Frankfurt this year are seven whose works are published in Germany by Penguin Random House publishers: Kiko Amat, Maria Barbal, María Hesse, Aroa Moreno Durán, Antonio Muñoz Molina, Agnes Rotger, and Maria Sánchez.
The Blue Sofa
The Blue Sofa, the literary format jointly organized by Bertelsmann, ZDF, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and 3sat, once again presents a superb international lineup of nearly 80 authors from all over the world at this year's book fair. Starting today, visitors can experience the diversity of the book world and discover numerous new titles at the Blue Sofa’s usual location of in Exhibition Hall 3.1 – or as a livestream. Great international literary personages including Abdulrazak Gurnah, Donna Leon, Serhij Zhadan, Charlotte Link, Leila Slimani, Péter Nádas, Dmitry Glukhovsky, Dörte Hansen, and Robert Menasse will take a seat on the Blue Sofa to talk about their new novels. Popular authors including Vanessa Mai, Judith Holofernes, Karen Duve, Melanie Raabe and Theresia Enzensberger will share the seat with equally well-known nonfiction authors like Michel Friedman, Stefanie Stahl, Maja Göpel, Ulrike Herrmann, Rüdiger von Fritsch, Luisa Neubauer, Ian Kershaw, David Van Reybrouck, and Andrea Wulf.The Blue Sofa will spotlight two countries this year: Contemporary literature from Ukraine will be presented by this year’s Peace Prize winner, writer and poet Serhij Zhadan, as well as by the writers Tanya Maljartschuk, Yuri Andruchowytsch and Andrei Kurkov. Insights into the diverse literature, culture and history of this year’s Guest of Honor Spain will be provided by Antonio Muñoz Molina, Fernando Aramburu, Maja González, Najat El Hachmi and Marta Orriols.
