Gothenburg aka Göteborg: Many things happen in few weeks; few things happen in many weeks, and some things happen once in a year. One of the things that happen year after year is the annual Book Fair (Bokmässan).
Book Fair 2018 lasts for four days beginning on Thursday 27 September to Sunday 30 September at Svenska Mässan (Gothia Towers). It is the biggest cultural event in Nordic countries; and attracts novelists, poets, scientists, historians, illustrators, academicians, journalists, philosophers, publishers and readers among others from all over the world. This year’s guests are Jojo Moyes, Nawal El Saadawi, Masha Gessen, Daniel Galera, Emilie Frech, Donna Leon, Matt Haig, Sergei Lebedev, Maggie O’Farrell and Mikhail Zygar. The book fair is an important event for publishers, distributors (online and offline, print and digital), but it is also a place for artistic expression and cultural manifestation.
Maria Rogstad Norberg, Head of Communications, told www.gothenburg-400.com that Gothenburg book fair is one of the most important Nordic literature event for readers, writers and publishers. She said, “It is an important market place for authors to sell rights to international publishers and Gothenburg book fair is the centre for that.”
RESPECT, IMAGES, MEDIA ISSUES:
The seminars at the fair focusses on three topics: Respect, Images, and Media Issues. On these issues, experts will discern and discuss about the pros and cons reflecting the current trends in the society.
“It is an important book fair in terms of topics that we cover, we got the respect theme which is really important because it covers most of the important issues in today’s society for example HBTQ, metoo, and racism,” Maria Rogstad Norber said. “Book fairs are important in today’s society for people who like books and also manifestation of democracy and humanities.”
Started in 1985 as a conference for librarians with 5000 visitors, and has grown phenomenally over the years. About 95,000 people visit during the book fair ranging from teachers and librarians to families and children and book lovers. Oscar Ekström, Head of Bokmässan, said lot of preparations are involved in getting publishers, distributors, writers and speakers to the fair for the benefit of visitors and book lovers.
You may also want to read:
http://gothenburg-400.com/gothenburg-book-fair-2018/