Claude Combet is a French journalist, working for Livres Hebdo, the weekly professional magazine for librarians, booksellers and publishers. She’s responsible for the foreign publishing columns and best-sellers commentaries. She’s also specialized on children’s books and crime novels.

Claude Combet, Livres Hebdo

She teaches publishing to students in translation at the University of Angers.

I can’t say how many book fairs I visited (otherwise I’ll have to tell my age) but it’s quite a lot. I am used to busy rights fair as Bologna Children Books Fair or Frankfurt Book Fair. I am used to crowdy book fairs as le Salon du livre de jeunesse de Montreuil ou le Salon du livre de Paris.

The XIV Bienal Internacional do Livro do Rio de Janeiro seemed quite the same. Three pavilions, orange, blue and green, the alleys, and the palm trees outside. I liked the blue one, with the main publishers of literature. I stopped to take several pictures : children  with books on the knees sat on the floor, girls in front of Stephenie Meyer covers (Olga took that photo too as you can see above), children like a wave on a stand, children everywhere, with blue, red or yellow uniforms.

I turned back and… I couldn’t see my collegues anymore. I always stop (and take photos). I think that I  could always see Ed’s blue shirt and run after them. But there were gone. I turned in all the alleys, looking at thousands of faces (there are 600 000 visitors in ten days at the Rio Book Fair) and lot of stands. I got lost. Don’t worry, I have been saved. But I won’t say how (journalists have secrets). I just felt being an european journalist not used to deal with so many people and such a great country.

Later on, as we were in the press room, dominating the pavilion, we hearded loud yells, and saw children and teenagers running from all over the pavilion to Rocco’s stand on the center. We learned they wanted to see one of their favorite author, Ziraldo (and buy his book). A hour later, the same yelling and running teenagers stood  in front the authors forum. On the mezzanine, a beautiful young brunette was saying hello to her readers, as a rock star (her name is Talita Rebouças). That’s what I remember of Rio Book Fair : thousands of teenagers happy with authors and books. It was great and gave me hope.

Claude Combet