Frankfurt Book Fair opens
The world’s biggest book fair has begun in Frankfurt am Main. Around 4,000 publishers are presenting their new titles. The Philippines are this year’s guest country.
Frankfurt am Main (dpa/d.de) – The world’s biggest book fair was opened with an official ceremony on Tuesday evening. In his opening address, Minister of State for Culture Wolfram Weimer used harsh words to describe the impact that artificial intelligence has on literature, saying that AI could “rip the world of literature to pieces”.
The Philippines are this year’s Guest of Honour. Visitors to the guest country’s pavilion are welcomed with garlands of flowers, hugs and singing. “Imagination peoples the air” is the Guest of Honour’s motto. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa is among the around 100 representatives from the Philippines who are coming to Frankfurt.
A total of over 1,000 authors will be attending the book fair, and around 4,000 publishers are presenting their products. Over 200,000 people are expected to visit the fair that ends on Sunday. Today and Thursday are reserved for trade visitors, and readers are able to attend from Friday onwards. The book fair is rounded off on Sunday with the presentation of the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade to the historian Karl Schlögel.
This year’s German Book Prize was awarded to the author Dorothee Elmiger for her book “Die Holländerinnen” (The Dutch Women). The prize, which is worth a total of 37,500 euros, is considered one of the most important awards of the industry, and it is traditionally presented on the day before the start of the Frankfurt Book Fair.