"Literature Parade. Guest Language German at #SalTo24"

Twenty-five authors and numerous events: the diversity of German-speaking literature at the international book fair in Turin  

German will be the Guest of Honour Language at this year’s international book fair in Turin (Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino, 9-13 May 2024 (#SalTo24)). Twenty-five German-language authors will be featured as part of “Literature Parade. Guest Language German at #SalTo24”, the theme of the exhibition stand and programme on the fairgrounds and in the city, which is being jointly organised by Austria, Germany and Switzerland.  

The programme will showcase the diversity of German-language literature in translation, from Reiner Stach, Franz Kafka’s biographer (100th anniversary of Kafka's death in June 2024), to Büchner Prize winner Lukas Bärfuss and new voices from the German-language book market, such as Charlotte Gneuß, whose debut novel “Gittersee” (S. Fischer) was longlisted for the 2023 German Book Prize. The books presented in Turin will address a range of topics, from climate protection and sustainability to issues related to family and heritage, remembrance and reflection, displacement and migration. 

The authors invited to participate in the “Literature Parade” include (in alphabetical order): 

Usama Al Shahmani, Lukas Bärfuss, Laura Cwiertnia, Bea Davies, Charlotte Gneuß, Hanna Harms, Lin Hierse, Annabelle Hirsch, Barbara Juch, Anja Kampmann, Shelly Kupferberg, Simone Lappert, Angela Lehner, Jimi Lend, Noëmi Lerch, Eva Maria Leuenberger, Andrea Macaluso, Nicolas Mahler, Jens Nielsen, Julya Rabinowich, Johanna Schaible, Sabine Scho, Reiner Stach, Jan Wagner and Dita Zipfel. 

Exhibition stand and programme at the fair:
The stand of “Literature Parade. Guest Language German at #SalTo24” with its approximately 170 square metres of exhibition space can be found at the fair in the Oval (stand V22). It will offer visitors the opportunity to discover new publications, participate in various events with authors and, thanks to the international bookshop Libreria Luxemburg, also purchase books. Visitors can also peruse thematic collections of the most beautiful books to have recently appeared in German-speaking countries. One of the collections is curated by Italian author Igiaba Scego. At the fair, she will present this "Canone Speciale" with special titles translated from German into Italian.

“Poetry at 12 O’Clock” will offer a daily rendezvous with poets, curated and funded by Museum Casa di Goethe in Rome. In addition, spoken-word performances with authors will take place in German and Italian, along with meetings and activities for children, and appointments with book-industry professionals. The exhibition stand has been designed sustainably, in keeping with the principle “reduce, reuse, recycle”. 

During the “Book to Screen” session at the Turin book fair’s Rights Centre, the focus will be on rights for adapting novels and on the relationship between the publishing industry and the world of film.  

Read Parade passes through Turin's city centre:
As part of “Salone Off”, the event “Read Parade – 2024 la letteratura si fa strada” will take place on Saturday, 11 May 2024. A festive parade with floats and music will make its way through the city, bringing the art of storytelling back to its roots in the public sphere and the community. It will serve as a gesture of openness, which the organisers of the “Literature Parade” want to use to invite and involve Turin’s residents and all literature lovers. Participants will include Veronica Raimo, Chiara Galeazzi, Vincenzo Latronico, Tom Müller, Anja Kampmann and others. 

Programme with translators: “L’autore invisibile”: 
Professionals who translate from German and Italian will be the protagonists at multiple panel discussions at “L'autore invisibile”. They will include Moshe Kahn, known as the “translator of the untranslatable” for his German-language version of Stefano D'Arrigo’s “Horcynus Orca”, a work that kept him busy for 30 years and earned him the German-Italian Translation Prize in 2015. Several recipients of this prestigious award will be present in Turin, including Ada Vigliani, translator of “Vielleicht Esther” (Adelphi), in conversation with Katja Petrowskaja, and Silvia Albesano, translator of Charlotte Gneuß, Esther Kinsky and Kim de l'Horizon. 
 

The entire programme of the Guest of Honour Language German can be found online from mid-April on: www.salonelibro.it/linguaospite(opens in a new window)
 

Organisers of “Literature Parade”:  
For Austria: the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs and the Austrian Cultural Forums in Milan and Rome. For Germany: Frankfurter Buchmesse, Goethe-Institut, Litrix.de and the Federal Foreign Office. For Switzerland: the Swiss Culture Foundation Pro Helvetia and the Booksellers and Publishers Association of German-speaking Switzerland SBVV. 

In cooperation with: Lucy sulla cultura, the international bookshop Libreria Luxemburg, Museum Casa di Goethe, Read Parade

Contact for the media:
Press and Corporate Communication, Frankfurter Buchmesse, press@buchmesse.de(opens in a new window)
Dr Torsten Casimir, Vice President | Communications & Content, casmir@buchmesse.de(opens in a new window)
Ines Bachor, PR Manager, Phone: +49 69 2102 189, bachor@buchmesse.de(opens in a new window) 
 

About Frankfurter Buchmesse
Frankfurter Buchmesse is the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair and the most important international marketplace for content – from novels and children’s books to academic databases and stories for films, games and virtual reality experiences. Publishing professionals from around the world meet here with partners from the technology sector and from related creative and cultural industries, sparking new partnerships and business models. Since 1976, the book fair has featured an annual Guest of Honour country, which showcases its book market, literature and culture to attendees in a variety of ways. Frankfurter Buchmesse organises the participation of German publishers at international book fairs and hosts trade events throughout the year in major international markets. Frankfurter Buchmesse is a subsidiary of the Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers Association). buchmesse.de/en(opens in a new window)