What’s new at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2023?

Every book fair is different. To ensure you can keep track of it all, we’ve assembled the most important information here. 

Aldus Up Stage in Hall 4.1 

Aldus Up is the follow-up project to Aldus, the network of European book fairs. It links more than 20 European trade shows – including Frankfurter Buchmesse, London Book Fair, Buch Wien and Bologna Children’s Book Fair – in order to promote internationalisation, research and innovation in the book market. This large-scale cooperation project is co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union.

The new Aldus Up Stage in Hall 4.1 will host events on industry topics ranging from education, inclusion and sustainability to translation funding, licensing, digitalisation, AI and VR. The weekend programme focuses on education and book presentations. https://www.buchmesse.de/en/highlights/professional-programme/stages/aldus-up-stage

Anniversary Area in foyer of Hall 4.1 – with Congratulations Wall, Selfie Point and book tips  
Frankfurter Buchmesse will be celebrating its 75th edition together with guests from all around the world. To mark the occasion, the book fair is inviting visitors to join in the celebrations in the Anniversary Area located in the foyer of Hall 4.1. Lasting memories of the visit to this year’s anniversary event can be captured at the Selfie Point. Book-fair fans can immortalise themselves by leaving best wishes on the nine-metre-long Congratulations Wall. Using its social media channels, the book fair will also be inviting the BookTok and Bookstagram communities to recommend the new publications they find particularly appealing. A selection of book tips will then be presented in the Community area. 

Announcement of the Young People’s Word of the Year 2023 

For the first time in its history, in keeping with the motto “Be fly, come by”, the German Young People’s Word of the Year will be announced in front of a live audience at the book fair. Before language experts discuss vocabulary and today’s changing youth culture, a video will be shown presenting the Top 10 German words used by young people in 2023. At the end of the event on Sunday, the Young People’s Word of the Year for 2023 will be revealed.  (22 October, Education Forum, 3.1 D12, 4:00–4:45 pm) 

App for #fbm23 

It’s practical, fast and always up to date: the official 2023 app displays all events happening at this year’s book fair. The personal appointment calendar with reminder function will keep users on track, and the matchmaking tool allows trade visitors to network with each other. Thanks to an ISBN scanner, book titles can be read electronically and then automatically saved in a list of personal favourites. The Frankfurter Buchmesse app for both IOS and Android can be downloaded free of charge. https://www.buchmesse.de/en/app

First joint appearance: ARD, ZDF and 3sat at Frankfurter Buchmesse 

For the first time, broadcasters ARD, ZDF and 3sat are organising a joint “literature stage” at Frankfurter Buchmesse. The stage’s programme of events will take place daily from 18 to 22 October, from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm. The cultural offerings will be broadcast live and will be available on demand in the three partners’ media centres and audio libraries, and on their websites and social media channels. The livestream of events can be accessed at ardkultur.de, buchmesse.zdf.de and 3sat.de. ARD Kultur will also be offering highlights as video-on-demand and audio recordings. Articles and reports will appear in the broadcasters’ magazines and on cultural shows, such as ZDF’s “aspekte” and “Das Literarische Quartett”, 3sat’s “Buchzeit”, its “Kulturzeit” magazine, ARD’s culture magazine “ttt – titel, thesen, temperamente” and hr television’s “hauptsache kultur”. ARD’s cultural programmes on the radio and in its audio library will also feature a multifaceted programme covering the events taking place on the literary stage. The stage’s motto is “Your Book. The Best of Frankfurter Buchmesse 2023 on the Literature Stage from ARD, ZDF and 3sat”, which is also the title of jointly produced TV programme featuring highlights from the fair.  

ARTE documentary: “Geist, Geschäft und Party – 75. Frankfurter Buchmesse” (ARTE/ZDF 2023) 

To mark Frankfurter Buchmesse’s 75th anniversary, broadcaster ARTE has put together a documentary about the history of the most exciting, exhausting and important week of the year when it comes to books. The film “Geist, Geschäft und Party – 75. Frankfurter Buchmesse” (Minds, Business Deals and Parties – The 75th Frankfurter Buchmesse) by director Jobst Knigge is about war and new beginnings, literature that breaks down walls, death threats, protests and bestsellers, readings and parties, the joys of diving into a book, and why Frankfurt is so important for all of the above. The director of Frankfurt Buchmesse, Juergen Boos, talks about what a typical day is like. Publishers such as Michael Krüger, Antoine Gallimard and Felicitas von Lovenberg have their say, as does the Danish bestselling author Jussi Adler Olsen and many others.

Initial broadcast: 18 October 2023 at 10:50 pm; available in the ARTE media centre from 18 October until 16 January 2024. 

BOOKFEST city 2023 – Events in bookshops and libraries 

In is anniversary year, Frankfurter Buchmese is dedicating BOOKFEST city to the bookshops in the Rhine-Main area and the libraries in the city of Frankfurt. During the book festival, which runs from 14 to 22 October 2023, more than 50 events will take place at almost 30 different locations. Participants will include Deborah Feldman, Boštjan Gombač, Gaby Hauptmann, Tom Hillenbrand, Nilufar Karkhiran Khozani, Guido Maria Kretschmer, Judith Merchant, Rainer Moritz, Nela Rywiková, Rüdiger Safranski, Axel Scheffler, Dirk Steffens and Otto Waalkes. The complete programme and information on tickets are available at https://www.buchmesse.de/en/bookfest.

Book-to-Screen Day on Friday 

Which books have the potential to be turned into movies? Which genres and subjects are the producers of films and series interested in? Which steps are necessary for a book to make its way onto the cinema or TV screen? On the Friday of the fair (20 October 2023), Frankfurter Buchmesse will be putting the spotlight on film and series adaptations during Book-to-Screen Day. Numerous events will make it possible for filmmakers to interact with members of the international book industry. https://www.buchmesse.de/en/rights-licenses/book-screen

Comics Centre in Hall 6.1  

This year, 14 publishers will be exhibiting in the new international Comics Centre. Other comics publishers, such as KOCCA, IDW and Panini, will have their own stands nearby. The centre’s programming begins on Wednesday with a guided tour of the international comics publishers, including a welcome talk in the Illustrators Corner. The tour will conclude with an invitation to attend the opening of the Comics Centre at 5:00 pm. Other events being held at various locations across the fairgrounds will include signing sessions with international illustrators, tours for trade visitors, a comics matinee, a comics-to-screen matchmaking service and a weekend programme.   

Education Forum with weekend programme under the patronage of Germany’s education ministers | Kulturstadion in Hall 4.1 

For the first time, Germany’s Standing Conference of the Ministers of Education and Cultural Affairs will serve as patron for the Education Forum (3.1 D12) and its events on learning and teaching. In addition, Frankfurter Buchmesse’s partnership with the educational association Bildungsmedien e.V. has been expanded: the association will now also be organising the weekend programme for the general public. Litcam’s “Kulturstadion”, which previously used the Education Forum to showcase its events at the weekend, is moving to the Aldus Up Stage. That’s where visitors can enjoy Kulturstadion’s colourful programme of events related to literature, football and society – which, this year, will also take a look at the 2024 European Football Championship. www.buchmesse.de/forum-bildung; www.litcam.de/de/kulturstadion(opens in a new window) 

EU project: S+T+ARTS Day 2023 – Projects at the intersection of art and technology 

This year, Frankfurter Buchmesse will again be a partner for the S+T+ARTS Prize and will host S+T+ARTS Day. Beforehand, on Wednesday, 18 October, the S+T+ARTS Prize community event “Exploring New Horizons” will take place on the Aldus Up Stage in Hall 4.1, in cooperation with the B3 Festival of the Moving Image. As part of S+T+ARTS Day on Friday, 20 October, various panel discussions will examine topics related to AI, VR, humans and the environment. Information on S+T+ARTS Day and on individual projects will be presented at stand H75 in Hall 4.1. The S+T+ARTS Prize is an initiative of the European Commission and is designed to explore the interplay of technology and artistic practice. The focus is on people and projects that can help overcome Europe’s social, ecological and economic challenges. This initiative has received funding from the European’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme. www.buchmesse.de/en/starts

Focus on artificial intelligence

The trending topic of artificial intelligence will be hotly debated at the fair – from practical experiences with AI-supported translation tools to copyright issues. Numerous speakers will be appearing on various stages, including “Forbes 30 under 30” founder Mina Saidze, linguist Naomi Baron, Shimmr AI CEO Nadim Sadek and copyright law expert Ursula Feindor-Schmidt. More information is available in the press release on the trade programme included in this press kit.

Focus topic: Democracy and Human Rights  

Organised together with Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the Frankfurt Forum will take place in the Frankfurt Pavilion, the book fair’s stage for cultural policy issues. This year, the focus will be on democracy and human rights. In addition, Frankfurter Buchmesse will again be cooperating with the United Nations in the year that marks both its own anniversary and that of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which is also turning 75. At the fair’s opening on Wednesday, international authors will gather in the Frankfurt Studio to read selected articles from the declaration in their native languages.

Frankfurt Audio: New stage with public programme  

At the weekend (21–22 October 2023), the Audio Business Lounge will be transformed into the World of Audiobooks Stage – powered by Bookwire (Hall 3.1 J25). In addition to award-winning audiobook narrator and actor Rufus Beck and actor and narrator Steffen Groth, many other authors will be participating, such as Jan Weiler, Lilly Lucas and Susanne Fröhlich. More information on Frankfurt Audio is available in the press release included in this press kit and at www.buchmesse.de/en/audio-public-programme. 

Frankfurt Rights Meeting in a new hybrid format 

For over 30 years, this tried-and-true event is where the book industry’s rights and licensing professionals have come together to do business. In 2023, it will be happening in a new hybrid format: four sessions will be held online in September and an exclusive networking reception with a keynote address will take place on the fairgrounds on Tuesday, 17 October 2023. www.buchmesse.de/frm(opens in a new window) 

Frankfurter Buchmesse Special: Literature Gala 

Organised by the book fair on Saturday, 21 October, the Frankfurter Buchmesse Special: Literature Gala will be one of the high points of this year’s fair. Guests will include Salman Rushdie, Christopher Clark, Lizzie Doron, Cornelia Funke, Amir Gudarzi and Thomas Hettche. Thea Dorn and Denis Scheck will serve as hosts for the gala, whose highlights will be broadcast on the radio programme h2-kultur and on ardkultur.de. Tickets are available at www.hr-ticketcenter.de/tickets-hr/e2154572(opens in a new window). 

Guest of Honour Slovenia 

Slovenia, this year’s Guest of Honour, will be presenting its literary and cultural landscape at the book fair under the motto “Honeycomb of Words”. Drago Jančar, Mojca Kumerdej, Goran Vojnović, Ana Marwan, Slavoj Žižek and many more: some 75 Slovenian authors, poets, philosophers and translators will put in an appearance in Frankfurt. In addition to poetry and philosophy, the Guest of Honour Pavilion (Forum, Level 1) will focus on Slovenia’s close connection to nature. Numerous exhibitions and happenings throughout the city will turn Slovenia’s time as Guest of Honour into a special event even beyond the fairgrounds. More information can be found in the press release included in this press kit, and at www.buchmesse.de/en/guest-honour and sloveniafrankfurt2023.com/en(opens in a new window). 

International Stage and Networking Café (Foyer, 5.1/6.1) 

The new International Stage on Level 1 in the foyer between international Halls 5 and 6 will provide a platform for exchange among members of the international publishing community. Topics will include book markets in Africa and Asia and the current situation of libraries in the UK and US. At the weekend, readings by authors from around the world will take place – including Booker Prize winner Georgi Gospodinov, Nigerian author Lola Shoneyin, US author Lynn Cullen, and Lung Yingtai from Taiwan. The new Networking Café will be located directly next to the stage, allowing international trade visitors to meet existing contacts and make new ones.

Public programme: www.buchmesse.de/en/international-stage

Professional programme: www.buchmesse.de/en/highlights/professional-programme

Meet the Author Area  

The Meet the Author Area in Hall 4.1 is the new event location for informal interactions between authors and fans. Benjamin Lacombe, Lexi Ryan, Rafik Schami, among others, will be available for signings and selfies at the area’s tables.

The Messeturm becomes the world's largest book pile

During the week of the fair, the Messeturm will be transformed into the world's largest book pile – with the help of AR tracking technology from the Berlin software developer ZAUBAR. To do this, all you have to do is call up the link www.booktower75.com(opens in a new window), follow the instructions and then simply point your smartphone camera at the Messe Frankfurt landmark.

New opening times for the general public | Book sales at the weekend  

Members of the general public can visit the book fair as of 2:00 pm on Friday, 20 October 2023. Book sales will also be permitted as of this time. That means from Friday to Sunday (20–22 October 2023) books and media can be acquired from exhibitors at fixed retail prices. Kulturpass holders can purchase a ticket for general admission at a discount. 

Podcasts at the book fair: Lage der Nation and ARTE 

Germany’s most popular political podcast, Lage der Nation (State of the Nation), will be appearing at the book fair when Philip Banse and Ulf Buermeyer invite listeners to “Lage Live” on Thursday evening, 19 October (Harmonie Hall, 7:00 pm. The event is sold out; media representatives who want to report on it should contact press@buchmesse.de). On Saturday, both podcast hosts will be presenting their new book on the World of Audiobooks Stage in the Frankfurt Audio Area in Hall 3.1. The ARTE podcast will also be recorded live at the fair on Friday when Jagoda Marinić speaks with author Cornelia Funke about the most important book in her life.

Publishers Rights Centre 

The Publishers Rights Centre (PRC) is a newly created working area for professionals active in the rights and licensing business. It will be located directly next to the Literary Agents & Scouts Centre (LitAg) in Hall 6.2 and will open on the Tuesday before the fair. 

TikTok Book Award 

The official award ceremony for the first German TikTok Book Award will take place on 21 October 2023 from 6:00 to 8:00 pm in the Frankfurt Pavilion on the Agora. In addition, TikTok will have an exhibition stand in the new Meet the Author Area, where the social video platform will be offering insights for users, writers, publishers and creators, including at the panel discussion “#BookTok: Von TikTok in den Buchladen” (BookTok: From TikTok to Bookshops). Participants will include Tobias Henning, General Manager of TikTok DACH & Central Eastern Europe. 

Support in case of discrimination: Awareness Team at new location 

As was true last year, an Awareness Team consisting of members of the Bund für Antidiskriminierungs- und Bildungsarbeit e.V. (BDB – Association for Anti-Discrimination and Educational Work) will be on duty during the entire fair. This year, the team will be located in the foyer of Hall 4.1 next to the information stand. Visitors who feel they have been discriminated against while at the fair for reasons having to do with a characteristic attributed to them can contact the Awareness Team directly by phone (0152 587 84634) or by e-mail (AwarenessTeamBDB@bdb-germany.de). Security personnel and law enforcement officials will be on site to deal with security-related issues. For more information on BDB: https://bdb-germany.de/(opens in a new window) 

Frankfurter Buchmesse wants to ensure everyone who attends the fair has a positive experience – regardless of gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual identity, disability, ethnic heritage, nationality, age, language, religion or worldview. Frankfurter Buchmesse’s Code of Conduct lays out rules for creating an appreciative and respectful environment at the book fair: https://buchmesse.de/ueber-uns/code-conduct(opens in a new window)