Press releases

In its second year, BOOKFEST once again has exceptional readings, concerts, parties and performances planned that will create a week-long festival atmosphere in Frankfurt - with Margaret Atwood, Ken Follett, Maja Lunde, Jo Nesbø, Elif Shafak, Colson Whitehead and many more.

With CREATE YOUR REVOLUTION-Talks (Wednesday, 16 October 2019) Frankfurter Buchmesse is giving the stage to a kaleidoscope of global change makers whose powerful ideas are shaping a bright and hopeful future. Tickets are available now.

For the fourth time, the Focus: Film Networking Day “A Book is a Film is a Game” will take place at Frankfurter Buchmesse. On Friday, 18 October 2019, the spotlight at THE ARTS+ Salon in Hall 4.1. will be on adapting literary material for the screen as well as on current trends in the field of moving images. Experts from the publishing and film world, gaming and new media sectors will come together at exciting workshops and talks.

Kelly Luegenbiehl, Netflix’s Vice President International Originals, will be featured at this year’s Global 50 CEO Talk at Frankfurter Buchmesse (16-20 October 2019) on Wednesday, 16 October 2019, from 2pm to 3pm in the Frankfurt Pavilion.

For the first time this year, exhibitors at Frankfurter Buchmesse (16–20 October 2019) will be able to sell books and media on both the Saturday and Sunday of the fair. The organisers of the world’s largest industry event are thereby accommodating a wish expressed by many publishers.

This year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse (16-20 October 2019) is putting culture back at the center of global discussion. Together with the United Nations and Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers & Booksellers Association), Frankfurter Buchmesse is launching the global campaign “Create Your Revolution – Initiative For The Future Of Culture”.

The Geisteswissenschaften International Nonfiction Translation prize competition (GINT) is now entering its fourth round. Emerging translators from German to English can take part in the competition, sponsored by the German Publishers and Booksellers Association and the Frankfurt Book Fair New York, up to October 15.

The bestselling Norwegian author Jo Nesbø will present his new book "Knife" (Penguin Random House, publication date: 9 July 2019) at BOOKFEST at Frankfurter Buchmesse (16-20 October 2019).

A Berlin-based children’s book festival for diversity and a Canadian blockchain startup for e-books win free book fair stand.

The world of audiobooks, podcasts and smart speakers will be represented at this year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse with its own, newly created thematic area and programme: Frankfurt Audio.

At a press conference on 4 June in Frankfurt, the Guest of Honour Norway presented its extensive cultural programme, the concept for the Guest of Honour Pavilion and the list of authors who will attend the fair.

For the second time, Frankfurter Buchmesse (16-20 October 2019) will award the Frankfurter Buchmesse Film Awards. The submissions period is now open for two categories.

‘The Future of Culture’ is the theme of the 2019 StoryDrive Exhibition and Conference held from 28 May to 1 June 2019. Featured topics inlcude artificial intelligence (AI), trans-cultural storytelling and science fiction.

For the second time, Frankfurter Buchmesse and the MGIP Motovun Group of International Publishers are once again awarding the “Best Illustrated Book on Film” as part of the Frankfurter Buchmesse Film Awards. The deadline for submissions is 31 May 2019.

Norway is the Guest of Honour at this year's Frankfurter Buchmesse (16-20 October 2019). This is the first time that a Frankfurter Buchmesse Guest of Honour has organised a festival for its host in the run-up to the fair. The first Tysk-Norsk (German-Norwegian) literary festival, in which more than 40 German-speaking and 64 Norwegian authors participated, drew some 4,700 literature enthusiasts to Oslo’s House of Literature.

From 26 to 28 April 2019, the German-Norwegian literary festival “Towards Frankfurt” in Oslo will offer a preview of what’s to come. Over 90 writers from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Norway will read from their books and discuss the themes they explore in their works. Never before have this many German-language authors come together in Norway at the same time.

At a press conference in Leipzig, Norway, Guest of Honour at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2019, celebrated the start of its literature programme. 18 Norwegian authors and their works will be in the spotlight over the next few days.

Applications are now open for three international programmes: the Frankfurt Fellowship, the Frankfurt Invitation Programme and the new funding programme for translators of literature and non-fiction – Frankfurt International Translators.

Two groundbreaking events in the international art and culture scene are joining forces: THE ARTS+ Future of Culture Festival and the B3 Biennial of the Moving Image.

Are you feeling creative? For the fifth year in a row, Frankfurter Buchmesse (16-20 October 2019) is awarding its Wild Card. Whoever can provide the best, most imaginitive answers to three questions about their exhibition concept will win a grand prize: an 8-sqm stand at the world’s biggest fair for content.

When artificial intelligence (AI) meets culture and society, many ethical questions arise. Who needs psychological counselling: robots or people? Who should define the ethical guidelines for AI? These are some of the topics addressed in the expert talk “Robopsychology and Ethics in AI” with Prof Martina Mara, researcher and robopsychologist at Johannes Kepler University Linz and member of the Austrian Council on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

This year marks the tenth anniversary of Festival Neue Literatur (28-31 March 2019), the first and only festival in New York City to spotlight German-language and U.S. fiction together. The theme of the 2019 festival is “In Memory We Trust”.

"German Stories" took centre stage at the 2019 Taipei International Book Exhibition (12-17 February). As part of Germany's Guest of Honour presentation 13 German authors travelled to Taiwan to exchange ideas with Taiwanese journalists, academics and authors. They captivated the audience and received an incredible response: All of the events at the German stand were filled to capacity and followed by lively discussions.

In 2018, BOOKFEST attracted 25,000 visitors with 77 events at 21 locations. In 2019, the festival is to take place again on a similar scale. What is new this year is that publishers and partners can submit their own programme ideas. The Call for Participation is open until 30 April 2019.

“German Stories” is the theme of Germany’s role as Guest of Honour at the Taiwanese book fair from 12-17 February 2019. The German delegation traveling to Taipei includes 13 authors, who will present their work in tandem with Taiwanese authors.

The 72nd Cannes Film Festival will take place from 14 to 25 May 2019. This year, for the first time, Frankfurter Buchmesse (16-20 October 2019) is organising a Publishers’ Tour in Cannes for six publishers from Germany and publishers from Frankfurt’s upcoming Guest of Honour countries.

On 30 January, the ON THE SAME PAGE campaign of Frankfurter Buchmesse and Börsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) received the Politikaward (Politics Award) for the category “Kampagne von Unternehmen und Verbänden” (“Campaign by companies and associations”).

Twelve exceptional books suitable for adaptation to the screen have been selected for Books at Berlinale 2019, and film producers can discover them at the Berlinale Co-Production Market in Berlin’s Abgeordnetenhaus (state parliament) on 11 February 2019.

“German Stories” will be the theme of Germany’s presentation at the Taipei International Book Exhibition from 12 to 17 February 2019.

IPR License, the marketplace to buy and sell rights within the publishing industry worldwide, owned by Frankfurter Buchmesse, has today announced it has further strengthened its international network by signing the renowned German publishing houses of S. Fischer.