Frankfurter Buchmesse, which will be held from 11-15 October 2017, will see 134 authors and artists from France, the French-speaking region of Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Canada, Africa, Asia and the Maghreb present their work.
Wajdi Mouawad is expected as literary speaker at the opening of the Book Fair on 10 October 2017. The author, actor and dramaturge of Lebanese origin is currently director of the Théâtre national de la Colline in Paris.
“With the presence at the Frankfurter Buchmesse of well over a hundred French-language authors and with hundreds of cultural events at and beyond the Book Fair, ‘Francfort en français’ stands as a symbol of a new upturn in the relationship between France and Germany and conveys a very powerful movement towards a more harmonious Europe,” says Paul de Sinety, chairman of France’s participation as Guest of Honour.
France’s participation as Guest of Honour will be accompanied by an impressive list of translations: 130 publishers from Germany, Austria and Switzerland are translating 473 novels, works of nonfiction, children’s and young adult books and graphic novels to German (effective June 2017).
“At a time when Europe is under increasing political pressure and there are deep rifts within its population, France’s presence at the Frankfurter Buchmesse is helping to consolidate the close ties between Germany and France. At the same time, it creates a vibrant cultural space that reaches far beyond geographical borders. In a few weeks, we will see authors in Frankfurt who are grappling with their (adopted) homeland, questioning and reinventing France’s image in the world and doing away with prejudices and clichés. And this irrespective of whether they were born in France, or have adopted French as their langue de préférence for professional, political or personal reasons,” says Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurter Buchmesse.
