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Launched at Frankfurter Buchmesse

Frankfurt, 22 October 2016 – Today, this year’s annual meeting for members of the European network for the promotion of translations saw the official founding of ENLIT, the European Network for Literary Translation. The network will support the continued development of grant programmes, in order to generate greater interest and visibility for literature, both in the countries of origin and at an international level. In so doing, it wants to provide easier access to the many different literary voices from within and beyond Europe’s borders. “We’re joining forces because we can achieve our goals more effectively together,” says Bärbel Becker, Director International Projects with the Frankfurt Book Fair, and she explains: “The institutions that join the network agree to share information, set up collaborative projects, invest in research, conduct surveys and process their data, and to show a commitment to producing and distributing literary translations. These are all essential conditions for the dynamic promotion of literature.”

A series of meetings have been held between European translation promotion organisations – in London (2011), Amsterdam (2012), Dublin (2013), Brussels (2014), and Budapest (2015) and, since 2013, every year at the Frankfurt Book Fair. Today, the Frankfurt Book Fair hosted the official founding meeting of the European Network for Literary Translation – ENLIT. The founding members include 22 organisations from 19 countries and regions in all. The meeting was chaired by Koen van Bockstal, Director of the Flemish Literature Fund, and the Book Fair’s Bärbel Becker.

Countries and regions represented: Belgium, Bulgaria, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands Estonia, Finland, Flandres, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, and Wales.

About the Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair – with 7,100 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, around 275,000 visitors, over 4,000 events and approximately 10,000 accredited journalists – including 2,000 bloggers - in attendance. It also gathers key players from other media, including the film and games industries. 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. The Frankfurt Book Fair organises the participation of German publishers at around 20 international book fairs and hosts trade events throughout the year in major international markets. With its Business Club, the Frankfurt Book Fair offers essential services and an ideal setting for the activities of publishers, entrepreneurs, pioneers, experts and visionaries. The Frankfurt Book Fair is a subsidiary of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association. www.book-fair.com

Contact for the media:
Press & Corporate Communications, Frankfurt Book Fair
Katja Böhne, Vice President Marketing & Communications, tel.: +49 (0) 69 2102-138, press@book-fair.com
Kathrin Grün, PR manager, Tel.: +49 (0) 69 2102-170, gruen@book-fair.com
> Press information online >www.buchmesse.de/en/press/press-releases
> Photos in print quality >www.buchmesse.de/en/press/press-material