Greece is the market of honour at BolognaBookPlus 2023, which will take place 6-9 March in parallel to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair. Within this framework, the Hellenic Ministry of Culture and Sports, in partnership with the Hellenic Foundation for Culture, the Publishers’ Associations and the entire Greek book sector will undertake a diverse and lively programme of professional and cultural events.
Greece has one of the highest book production rates in the world, its literary tradition spans millennia, with Homer considered one of the greatest and most influential authors of all time, and boasts two Nobel laureates in Literature, the poets Odysseus Elytis and Giorgos Seferis. The Greek publishing industry, worth €1.5bn, is largely based in Athens and Thessaloniki, enjoys its own annual international book fair in Thessaloniki, and has a strong National Literature Awards Programme. Meanwhile, the retail sector is vibrant, comprising 1500 bookshops across the country. The Ministry of Culture and Sports together with the Hellenic Foundation for Culture have recently launched GreekLit, a translation grant programme to acquaint the world with the richness of Greek contemporary writing.
BBPlus Market of Honour 2023 will welcome the following authors: Angeliki Darlasi; Christos Ikonomou; Dimitris Anastasiou; Ersi Sotiropoulos; Petros Markaris; Stergia Kavvalou; Thomas Tsalapatis; Ursula Foskolou; Vagelis Iliopoulos; Soloúp; Dimitris Sotakis, and illustrators: Photini Stephanidi; Kelly Matathia-Covo. The programme includes among others a number of very interesting seminars: The Italian Market: Facts and Figures and the Greek Book Market; The Power of life beyond the page: promotion, publicity, and in -person events; Contemporary Greek Literature into Italian. Challenges, perspectives and new approaches; Digitisation and innovation in the Greek publishing sector; Jacket Design: Best of the Best from Greece, Market of Honour 2023, and winner announcement. It will also include a tribute to Alki Zei in the context of “Alki Zei Literary Year 2023”.
BolognaBookPlus, organized in collaboration with the Italian Publishers Association (AIE), was launched in 2021 to run in parallel to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, providing a rights trading opportunity for the wider general trade audience across the global publishing industry. The second edition in March 2022 was a very welcome physical event providing exciting exhibiting opportunities and enticing offers for general trade publishers and others in this sphere. Alongside the exhibition were professional industry training events such as: How to Sell Rights; Call Your Agent: How to Become a Successful Literary Agent; a Translation rights forum; plus a Jackets off design award; Author Ambassador programme, a topical seminar programme, and a hosted bookseller initiative. March 2023 aims to bring all this and more for all those involved in general trade publishing. Stay tuned and enjoy the festivities!
A.R.
Also read: Reading Greece: Nikos Koukis on the Scope and Initiatives of the Hellenic Foundation for Culture and the Ongoing Revolutions of Books; POEM OF THE MONTH: A Tribute to Odysseus Elytis and his Chef d’ Oeuvre ‘The Axion Esti’; POEM OF THE MONTH: ‘Summer Solstice’ by Giorgos Seferis
TAGS: LITERATURE & BOOKS | READING GREECE
