Juergen Boos talks about “connecting and exchanging in peace and security"

‘Peaceful and Democratic Discourse’

As the 76th iteration of Frankfurter Buchmesse approaches (October 16 to 20), many regular trade visitors are aware that the political context can change from year to year, but is rarely out of view: Volatile times can reflect the communicational power that the international book industry carries.

We’re pleased today (October 2) to have an interview with Juergen Boos, the president and CEO of Frankfurter Buchmesse—a chance to get his perspective on this aspect of staging the show each year.

Publishing Perspectives: How does Frankfurter Buchmesse see its mission in terms of being an event and place that inevitably, each year, will encounter conflicting opinions of some kinds, not infrequently political disagreements?

Juergen Boos: Well, first of all, our mission as the world’s largest book fair is to offer a platform for the international publishing industry to do business. Every year, people from more than 100 countries come together in Frankfurt to connect and exchange ideas in peace and security, despite a tense world situation. It goes without saying that many differing viewpoints and opinions are coming together – especially in the light of the ongoing geopolitical conflicts worldwide.

Throughout its longstanding history, Frankfurter Buchmesse has been exactly this platform and meeting place for a peaceful and democratic discourse. For more than 500 years, the book fair has been committed to freedom of speech and freedom to publish.

This is also what our cultural-political program “Frankfurt Calling” is all about:  Here, for instance, Italian author Roberto Saviano will talk about Writing in Illiberal Times and authors from all over the world will share their personal takes on Storytelling as a Human Right at an event organized together with the United Nations. At last year’s fair, Israeli-German publicist Meron Mendel and Palestinian-German journalist Alena Jabarine shared onstage their personal viewpoints on the situation in the Middle East—and this year, they’ll pick up this conversation again.

Publishing Perspectives: One of the challenges of the book fair is that many of the exhibitors and visitors attending from around the world arrive with differing viewpoints. Are there any political situations that would require Frankfurter Buchmesse in any way to discourage or bar publishing exhibitors or trade visitors from any countries?

Juergen Boos: What you describe as a challenge is what we’d say makes Frankfurt actually unique: The book fair thrives on the diversity of its exhibitors and visitors from more than 100 countries.

Our regulations in regard to participating in the fair are very clear: The book fair is the largest, leading international publishing fair and therefore has a monopoly position, so that it is obligated under antitrust law to allow all publishers, service providers, organizations, and companies that are not prohibited under German law to participate as exhibitors.

Publishing Perspectives: As you’ve mentioned, this year Frankfurter Buchmesse has rebranded its cultural-political program as “Frankfurt Calling.” What kind of attention goes into making sure that no single country or interest is able to use such a program to advance its own agenda?

Juergen Boos: The Frankfurt Calling program is organized by Frankfurter Buchmesse and its partners. Among our 2024 partners—in addition to the United Nations—are Amnesty International, the human rights organization Memorial, and the International Publishers Association (IPA), just to name a few. Together with these international organizations, a program has been created to address major global issues such as democracy, human rights, diversity, artificial intelligence, and sustainability.

Further cultural-political topics will also be discussed—the program includes events about Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Middle East conflict and reactions to it, Black feminism and the global rise of populism. There will be thought-provoking speakers from many regions of the world, such as, for instance, Anne Applebaum, Stella Gaitano, Atef Abu Saif, Roberto Saviano, Yuval Noah Harari, and Kohei Saito.

‘Every Corner of the World’

Publishing Perspectives: Last year, the book fair took place about a week-and-a-half after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. The situation in the Middle East has further escalated. What is the book fair’s position here?

Juergen Boos: We are a book fair, which means we offer a platform for democratic discourse and peaceful encounters between authors, publishers, illustrators, translators, and readers from all over the world.

Publishing Perspectives: With the fair taking place soon, it has come to our attention that voices from the international publishing community have approached the book fair in regard to Israel and Palestine, with various demands about exhibitors and speakers from these regions. How does the book fair deal with this?

Juergen Boos: In general, we don’t comment on individual petitions, open letters, or action alliances. However, let me emphasize again: The book fair is a platform for democratic exchange for authors and publishing professionals from every corner of the world.

Publishing Perspectives: What is the relationship of the fair and Berlin’s policies? Is equating the German nation’s policies and the purpose of Frankfurter Buchmesse and its operations correct?

Juergen Boos: Frankfurter Buchmesse is not a government organization, nor an NGO, but an entity belonging to the German Publishers and Booksellers Association. It operates independently within the legally prescribed framework. Of course, Germany’s historical past is still very present in Frankfurt: The first book fair after World War II took place in 1949 at the St. Paul’s Church in the heart of the city. However, to be very clear: The book fair is an organization in its own right, not a state institution.

Interview by Porter Anderson, editor-in-chief, Publishing Perspectives. The interview was first published here(Öffnet neues Fenster) in Publishing Perspectives on 2 October 2024.