With American Literature as its guest of honour, the 19thThessaloniki Book Fair will be held on 4-7 May 2023 inaugurating new cooperations and opening up new perspectives in the international book market.
The 19th International Book Fair makes its dynamic comeback in May, with an extensive program of participations and cooperations in the Greek and international book market. From 4 to 7 May 2023, TBF will host, in 4 buildings and 14 halls within the HELEXPO (12,13, 14, 15) more than 600 Greek and foreign book professionals and almost 500 events with the participation of more than 1.200 speakers.
American Literature as the Guest of Honour
American literature will be the guest of honour in this year’s Thessaloniki Book Fair, aiming to highlight the contemporary literary voices and the book market of the USA through the participation of authors, publishing houses and people of letters and culture. The response was indeed impressive as 22 important publishing houses will participate in the American Pavilion, including Abrams Books Publishing Company, Insight Editions, Macmillan Publishers, MoMa Publications, Penguin Random House, The Quarto Group, Yale University Press, Harvard University Press, etc.
The invitation and representation of the American publishers has been undertaken by “American Collective Stand”, while three literary agents from the USA will also travel to Thessaloniki to participate in the 1st Thessaloniki Book Fair Fellowship program launched this year.
The Greek audience will have the chance to meet with significant American authors that will travel to Thessaloniki, including James Wood (Antipodes), Claire Messud (Dardanos-Gutemberg), as well as Nell Zink, Saskia Vogel, Meg Rosoff, and Ismini Lamb invited by the Hellenic Foundation for Culture.
The organization of the American Pavilion and the respective events has been undertaken, following proposal by the HFC, the American-Hellenic Chamber of Commerce in cooperation with its Culture Committee.
Writers Without Frontiers/ International Cooperations
France will participate in the Thessaloniki Book Fair with seven writers, including Haitian writer Makenzy Orcel, winner of the Goncourt Prix 2022 and Senegalese writer Mohamed Mbougar Sarr, winner of the Goncourt Prix 2021, as well as five significant French writers invited by the French Institute of Thessaloniki, in cooperation with the French Ιnstitute of Greece, namely Christel Espié, Murielle Szac, Christophe Cazenove, Bruno Doucey and François Thomazeau.
STORIES FROM EUROPE – Bringing European Writers to the Forefront
The Thessaloniki Book Fair, in cooperation with the European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL) has invited award-winning writers from Greece and other European countries in an effort to promote European creators and the role of EUPL in the strengthening and increase of translation exchanges.
The following writers will participate: Jan Carson (Ireland), Lana Bastašić (Bosnia), Ioanna Parvulescu (Romania) and Takis Kampylis, Nikos Chryssos, Kallia Papadaki and Makis Tsitas from Greece. The panel will be coordinated by Anne Bergman, Director of the European Federation of Publishers (FEP), which organizes the EUPL.
Balkan Voices
The presence of the multi-translated, multi-awarded and nominated for the Booker prize 2023 Georgi Gospodinov, invited by his Greek publisher (IKAROS), signals the dynamic return, after several years of absence, of Bulgaria to the Thessaloniki Book Fair.
Bulgaria participates with a stand organized by the Association of Bulgarian Publishers whose representatives, as well as the director of the Bulgarian National Book Center Svetlozar Zhelev, will participate in the programs of professional meetings.
From the neighboring Balkans there will participate Rumena Bužarovska (Northern Macedonia), Lana Bastašić (Bosnia), Ylljet Alicka (Albania).
Polyphonic Multi-Culturalism
The multicultural character of this year’s event is enriched by the presence of authors, translators and book professionals from various countries, creating a platform for meeting, networking and dialogue without borders.
Goethe Institut Thessaloniki invites Emine Sevgi Özdamar on the occasion of her book A space bounded by shadows, which is a polyphonic hymn to Europe. The author will talk to Spyros Moskovou, Deutsche Welle’s Greek editorial director. Furthermore, the author of children’s books, Jurgen Banscherus, is a guest of the Goethe Institut Thessaloniki, on the occasion of his popular series of books A Case for Detective Clue.
The Embassy of Israel together with Kastaniotis Editions invite the distinguished Israeli author Ayelet Gundar-Goshen for the book The Liar and the City which deals with #metoo on the reverse.
In addition, visitors at the TBF will have the chance to meet the distinguished Spanish writer Manuel Vilas, invited by the Cervantes Institute and Ikaros Editions, as well as Basque writer Patxi Zubizarreta, invited by the Basque Language and Culture Institute (Etxepare Euska lInstitutua). Palestinian-Icelandic writer Mazen Maarouf will travel to TBF from Reykjavik to present to the Greek audience his mult-translated book Militant Jokes, which will be published in Greek by Haramada books. Author, translator, journalist and poet, Mazen Maarouf has won important literary prizes in Europe and the Middle East, including his nomination for the Man Booker International Prize 2019.
The Thessaloniki Books Fair is organized by the Hellenic Foundation for Culture in cooperation with Greek Publishers, TIF–HELEXPO, the Central Macedonia Region, the Municipality of Thessaloniki, with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Sports. It is co-funded by the European Regional Development Development Fundunder the 2014-2020 Regional Operational Program (ROP) for Central Macedonia. TBF is a member of the International Book Fairs Forum and ALDUS UP – the European Book Fairs Network.
The General Secretariat for Greeks Abroad and Public Diplomacy is the media sponsor of the 19th Thessaloniki Book Fair regarding its international promotion.
A.R.
TAGS: LITERATURE & BOOKS | READING GREECE
