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Literature & Translation Stage

The new Centre of Words is the central meeting point for literature and translation with its own stage and networking area for encounters and exchanges.

Zentrum Wort 2025

For the second year running, the ‘Zentrum Wort’ at the Frankfurt Book Fair was the central meeting place for contemporary literature and translation, with an event stage and a new networking area.

The high-calibre programme brought German-speaking and international guests from the worlds of theory and practice onto the stage and into conversation. The discussions covered controversial topics from the worlds of literature, translation and cultural policy. The thematic spectrum ranged from the new literary public sphere and its criteria, the current living and working conditions of authors, the aesthetics of artificial intelligence, writing for young readers, literary existence in exile, and literary perspectives on society and the present day. Discussions covered global inequalities in the literary world, the translatability of violence, copyright in the age of AI, and questions of reception – such as Jane Austen translations on the occasion of her 250th birthday, or how ‘sendstark’ the work of Rolf Dieter Brinkmann is 50 years after his death.

Impressions of the Centre of Words:

Frankfurter Buchmesse's fellowship and grant programmes

Frankfurt Fellow
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Salon Francfort - A gathering of German and French fiction publishers in Frankfurt am Main

This is a publishers' meeting for selected German and French fiction publishers which will take place at the Haus des Buches in Frankfurt.

The compact programme will focus on the development of a Franco-German book industry network, as well as on the promotion of literature and translation.

Goldschmidt-Programm 2018 Teilnehmer

The Goldschmidt Programme

The Georges Arthur Goldschmidt Programme is aimed at young literary translators from Switzerland, France, Germany and Austria. Each year, it enables five German speaking and five French speaking translators to meet with publishers from both countries and to work on translation projects under the guidance of experienced translators. The next Goldschmidt programme edition will take place from 5 February to 29 March 2025.

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Other translation funding opportunities

Here you can find an extensive list of organisations that provide translation funding programmes for publishers and translators.

Learn more

Missed an event?

Frankfurter Buchmesse 2023

Media library

Discover highlights for trade and private visitors from past events all year round and free of charge in our media library.

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