Skip to main content

Margaret Atwood, Ken Follett, Maja Lunde, Jo Nesbø, Elif Shafak, Colson Whitehead and many more

On Saturday, 19 October 2019 at 7.00 p.m., Frankfurter Buchmesse is organising a literary gala with renowned authors from around the world: Margaret Atwood, Maja Lunde, Elif Shafak and Colson Whitehead will present their new books and will talk about the power of literature as a vehicle for social activism and political engagement, the role of language and the author’s role in culture and society. In perfect addition, Ken Follett will introduce his “Friendship Tour”.

With The Testaments internationally acclaimed Canadian author Margaret Atwood continues the narrative of The Handmaid’s Tale 15 years later. Maja Lunde, author of the worldwide bestsellers The End of the Ocean and The History of Bees, will provide a preview of Die Letzten ihrer Art (The Last of Their Kind), which will be published in November. Politically engaged and prize-winning author Elif Shafak, who writes in Turkish and English, will present the novel Outrageous Voices. And Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead will appear with his new novel The Nickel Boys.

Events surrounding Britain’s impending departure from the EU have inspired British author Ken Follett to organise a one-of-a-kind literary event which he will kick-off at BOOKFEST: Together with bestselling authors Jojo Moyes, Kate Mosse and Lee Child, he will travel through Europe in November on “The Friendship Tour” – taking a stance against Brexit.

On Thursday, 17 October at 8.00 p.m. in the Congress Center of Messe Frankfurt, bestselling Norwegian author Jo Nesbø will also present his new book Knife at BOOKFEST. The event, which will be moderated by hr2 host Alf Mentzer; Oliver Mommsen, a former star of the popular German TV crime series “Tatort”, will give a reading from the German version of the book.

Known for his gripping series of crime novels featuring the detective Harry Hole, Jo Nesbø is one of Norway’s most successful crime novelists, with some 20 million copies of his books sold. The reading, which is being held in cooperation with hr2 Kultur, Ullstein Buchverlage, Hugendubel and the Guest of Honour Norway, will be his only presentation of his new book in Germany.

The literary gala and the Jo Nesbø event, which will both be held in English with a few German summaries and reading parts, are just two of numerous BOOKFEST events. In its second year, the festival once again has exceptional readings, concerts, parties and performances planned that will create a week-long festival atmosphere in Frankfurt.

The entire programme, which will take place in the Frankfurt Pavilion, Congress Center of Messe Frankfurt and popular locations throughout Frankfurt is available on www.bookfest.de(opens in a new window)
#fbm19 #bookfest

The BOOKFEST partner 2019 are: Stern Crime, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurt Airport VIP-Services, Galore, hr2-Kultur, Hugendubel, MyZeil, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Vitra

The BOOKFEST-Locations 2019 are: 25hours Hotel Frankfurt, Amp, Büchergilde, Neues Café Wacker, Club Michel, Das Herz von Frankfurt, Deutsche Nationalbibliothek, Der Tatzelwurm, East Grape, Festsaal der Senckenberg Gesellschaft im Jügelhaus, fffriedrich, Frankfurt Airport VIP-Services, MyZeil Foodtopia, Frankfurter Hof, Frankfurter Salon, Gibson, Hotel Moxy, Kriminalmuseum, Kunstverein Familie Montez, Living Hotels, MAGGI Kochstudio, Mediacampus Frankfurt, Oper Frankfurt, Orfeos Erben, Palmengarten, Plan J, St. Katharinenkirche, Sendesaal im Hessischen Rundfunk, Taverna Omikron, Thalia im Tituscorso, The English Theatre, Tumult, Universitätsklinikum Frankfurt, Vitra, Walden, Whiskey Spirits, Yachtclub