Every book fair is different. To ensure you can keep track of everything that’s happening we’ve assembled the most important information here.
App for #fbm22
Practical, fast and always up to date, the official app for Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022 displays all events at the fair. The personal appointment calendar with reminder function will keep you on track, and the matchmaking tool for trade visitors provides you with new contacts. Thanks to an ISBN scanner, book titles can be read electronically and automatically saved in your list of personal favourites. The Frankfurter Buchmesse app for both IOS and Android can be downloaded free of charge as of mid-September. https://www.buchmesse.de/en/app(opens in a new window)
Awareness Team
An Awareness Team, consisting of members of the Bund für Antidiskriminierungs- und Bildungsarbeit e.V. (BDB – Association for Antidiscrimination and Education), will be on duty during the fair. The team will be located in the foyer of Hall 4.0. Visitors who feel they have been insulted, excluded, threatened or degraded while at the fair for reasons to do with an identity, or characteristics attributed to them, can contact the awareness team directly or by phone (0152 587 84634). Members of the Frankfurter Buchmesse team and security staff can also be approached at any time.
BOOKFEST
This year’s BOOKFEST will feature more than 40 events at 20 venues throughout Frankfurt. Audiobook Worlds, Crime Nights, Publishers’ Evenings – the programme is as diverse as the authors scheduled to appear. One new addition this year: BOOKFEST extra, an evening event on 20 October at 8.00 pm at which Donna Leon will be on hand to answer questions posed by Shelly Kupferberg (Tickets: https://www.eventim.de/eventseries/bookfest-extra-donna-leon-3201822/(opens in a new window)). The entire BOOKFEST programme will be available online shortly: www.buchmesse.de/en/highlights/public-events/bookfest(opens in a new window)
#BookTok Creation Corner and TikTok Stage in the Agora
On Sunday, 23 October 2022, the social video platform TikTok will host its own stage in the Agora from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm, bringing together some of the most popular creators, authors and publishers from the #BookTok community in discussions, workshops and performances. Initial programme highlights will be announced in the next few weeks. In the #BookTok Creation Corner, #BookTok creators will be invited to record their own videos and stream them live from the fair, allowing them to share their impressions with the community and interact with book lovers.
Code of Conduct: Ensuring a respectful environment at the fair
Frankfurter Buchmesse’s Code of Conduct lays out rules for creating an appreciative and respectful environment at the book fair. The fair’s organisers want to ensure everyone who attends has a positive experience – regardless of sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, sexual identity, disability, ethnic heritage, nationality, age, language, religion or worldview. No harassment or inappropriate comments will be tolerated towards visitors, exhibitors, partners or team members. The complete Code of Conduct can be found here: www.buchmesse.de/en/about-us/code-conduct(opens in a new window)
Crypto art at the fair
At its stand in Hall 4.0 (J 88), the B3 Biennial of the Moving Image will be presenting art created specifically for the Internet. The pieces shown will be moving-image artwork by international artists who have become known for their NFTs. Not taken seriously for many years, digital art has become competitive with traditional artwork since it can now be exchanged on the digital market as an NFT.
detektor.fm: live podcast from Frankfurter Buchmesse
Podcast radio station detektor.fm is Frankfurter Buchmesse’s official podcast partner. Over the course of the fair, the studio stage in THE ARTS+ area (Hall 4.0 G59) will welcome over 50 authors, including Jarvis Cocker, Sebastian Fitzek and Maja Göpel. detektor.fm will broadcast live from the fair; afterwards, the compelling conversations will be available in the N99 podcast on the detektor.fm app and at www.detektor.fm/serien/n99(opens in a new window).
Focus on Ukraine
Ukrainian publishers and institutions will be the exhibitors at a 100-sqm collective stand which will feature its own stage (Hall 4.0). The stand’s extensive programme will highlight the current situation faced by the country’s publishing industry. Ukraine’s collective stand is being made possible by the cooperative efforts of Frankfurter Buchmesse, Goethe-Institut Ukraine and the Ukrainian Book Institute. In conjunction with the book fair, the journal OSTEUROPA (Berlin) is dedicating the publication Kultur in Zeiten des Krieges (Culture in Times of War) to Ukraine. Contributors to the 500-page compendium shed light on the country’s multifaceted culture.
Frankfurt Audio: Networking thanks to the Audio Ambassador
Audiobooks, podcasts, audio software and audio services: some 250 square metres of the Frankfurt Audio area will be putting a spotlight on the spoken word (Hall 3.1). More than 20 German-speaking exhibitors will be present at the IG Hörbuch collective stand; other international players such as Spotify, Zebralution, Beat Technology, Bookwire, Pozotron, I-Contact, Saga Egmont and Blackstone Publishing Audio will have their own stands or workstations in the area. New this year is a special service for exhibitors and trade visitors: as the book fair’s Audio Ambassador, Matthäus Cygan, consultant for media and audio publishing, will be networking interested parties with audio companies at the IG Hörbuch collective stand (Hall 3.1 K 61) from Wednesday to Friday (19–21 October).
Frankfurt Pavilion: The stage for culture and politics at Frankfurter Buchmesse
It hasn’t been seen for two years, but this autumn the eye-catching wooden structure designed by architects schneider+schumacher will once again be a commanding presence in the Agora – and beyond. This year, the Frankfurt Pavilion will feature a programme of cultural and political events curated by Frankfurter Buchmesse and its partners that will address many current issues, helping shape the discourse at this year’s book fair. Scheduled topics include democracy’s ability to defend itself, diversity in the media and culture industry, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the Russian opposition in exile, Afghanistan today, Europe’s future and its literatures, current challenges facing translators, the climate and economics, and many more. On Sunday, the programme at the pavilion will focus on media for children and young adults and on audiobooks. The complete list of events will be announced shortly.
Media partners are ARTE, Financial Times, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung and taz – die tageszeitung. Additional partners: Goethe-Institut Germany, Goethe-Institut Ukraine, bpb – Federal Agency for Civic Education, Institut Français Berlin, Litprom e.V., Freedom of Expression Committee at the German Publishers & Booksellers Association, European Union Prize for Literature (EUPL), among others.
German government at the fair
Germany’s federal government will have its own stand at Frankfurter Buchmesse (Hall 3.1 E 30 and E 31). Staff members from the Federal Press Office are looking forward to speaking with visitors, who can experience the stand’s interactive elements. Various quiz sessions will allow members of the public to test their knowledge of politics and current events. During moderated panel discussions, guests from politics and society will shed light on topics such as the changes resulting from the war in Ukraine and how people can respond to disinformation.
Guest of Honour Spain
Spain is the Guest of Honour country at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022. Under the motto “Creatividad Desbordante – Spilling Creativity”, it will use its time at the fair to focus on topics like multilingualism and the importance of the Spanish language as a bridge to Latin America. On all five days of the fair, events on the two stages of the interactive Guest of Honour Pavilion (Forum, Level 1) will take a look at Spain’s rich and vibrant literary and cultural landscape, offering space for exciting interactions with 200 individuals and organisations from the Southern European country. Guests will include Kiko Amat, Elena Medel, Elizabeth Duval, Rosa Montero, Cristina Morales, Sara Mesa and Fernando Aramburu, who will be presenting their existing works and new titles. Anyone who wants to learn more about current Spanish literature need not wait until October: the book fair’s list of new publications includes 186 titles by Spanish authors or works about Spain itself. To view the programme: www.buchmesse.de/en/highlights/guest-honour(opens in a new window). More information on Spain as Guest of Honour is available in the press release in this press kit.
New opening hours for the general public | Book sales at the weekend
For the first time, members of the general public can visit Frankfurter Buchmesse beginning 9.00 am on Friday (21 October 2022). Book sales can also take place from this time onwards. On Saturday and Sunday (22 and 23 October 2022), visitors can purchase books and media from exhibitors at fixed retail prices.
Publishing Perspectives Forum: Expert talks on Wednesday and Thursday
At the Publishing Perspectives Forum, leading voices from the global publishing industry will discuss challenges and analyse trends transforming the sector. Speakers will include Charlie Redmayne, CEO of HarperCollins UK, Núria Cabutí, CEO of Penguin Random House Grupo Editorial, and Jonny Geller, CEO of Curtis Brown. Curated by the trade journal Publishing Perspectives in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse, the two-day programme will take place on Wednesday, 19 October, from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, and Thursday, 20 October, from 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, in Messe Frankfurt’s Congress Center, Room Spektrum. Participation is free of charge. The programme is available here: https://publishingperspectives.com/pp-forum/(opens in a new window)
Special programme for publishers from Ukraine and neighbouring countries
Carried out with support from Germany’s Federal Foreign Office, the special programme will bring together publishers, editors, licencing managers and literary agents from Armenia, Azerbaijan, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Ukraine. A total of 17 participants, nine of them from Ukraine, will interact digitally and in person at Frankfurter Buchmesse 2022.
Spotlight on Africa
With its own collective stand and a seminar for publishing professionals, the International Publishers Association (IPA) is focusing on book industries and reading promotion in various African nations. The stand (Halle 4.1, H 102) will feature selected projects of the Africa Publishing Innovation Fund (https://www.apinnovation.fund/(opens in a new window)). The seminar on Thursday, 20 October (10.00 am to 1.30 pm) will examine a number of topics, including making publishing more inclusive, the library landscape and access to books for school students in African countries, especially during a pandemic. More information will be available shortly.
Spot on: Media partners at Frankfurter Buchmesse
New location for a proven crowd puller: this year, the ARD stage can be found once again in the Forum (Level 0), where visitors can experience bright minds discussing their books and ideas. Guests will include Leïla Slimani, Francis Fulton-Smith, Liao Yiwu and the winner of the 2022 German Book Prize. The Blue Sofa, the writers’ forum jointly organised by Bertelsmann, ZDF, Deutschlandfunk Kultur and 3sat, will be back at its accustomed location in Hall 3.1. Talks are planned with some 80 authors, including Nobel laureate Abdulrazak Gurnah, Peace Prize laureate Serhiy Zhadan, Donna Leon, Péter Nádas, Fernando Aramburu, Andrej Kurkow, Ian Kershaw, David Van Reybrouck and Andrea Wulf. The German Children’s Literature Award will be featured on the Blue Sofa for the first time, when nominee Kirsten Boie discusses the award with two experts from the jury. The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper, the weekly Die Zeit and radio broadcaster Deutschlandfunk Kultur are also planning their own stage programmes. In addition, Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung and business magazine brand eins will each have a stand in Frankfurt. Among other topics, cultural broadcaster ARTE will dedicate an afternoon to “And Now? International Festival of the Ideas of Tomorrow” at the Frankfurt Pavilion. The programme will also feature high-profile events organised by newsweekly Der Spiegel, and Brigitte magazine.
STARTS Day: Focus on AI in a racing simulation, fake news and Antarctica
Projects at the intersection of art and technology: Three projects from the pool of 2022 STARTS Prize winners and nominees will be featured in THE ARTS+ area and during STARTS Day on Friday, 21 October (https://starts.eu/(opens in a new window)).
The Glass Room (Hall 4.0 F 30): Misinformation, disinformation and conspiracy theories – what makes information reliable or dodgy? The exhibition “The Glass Room” will be open on all five days of the fair.
Gran Turismo SophyTM: 21 October, 11.00 am – noon, Frankfurt Studio
Deep learning and algorithms: how do you develop an artificial intelligence that wins against the best drivers in the most successful racing-simulation video game Gran Turismo® Sport? Kaushik Subramanian, senior research scientist at Sony AI, will speak with Holger Volland, member of the board of brand eins and author (Die Zukunft ist smart. Du auch? / The Future Is Smart? Are You?). Gran Turismo SophyTM has already been reviewed in the scientific journal Nature.
Antarctic Resolution: 21 October, noon – 1.00 pm, Frankfurt Studio
What do we know about Antarctica and how can we protect it? From chemists and climate scientists to logistics managers: 150 experts on Antarctica from various disciplines have contributed their knowledge to the book Antarctic Resolution (Lars Müller Verlag). Speakers: Guilia Foscari (architect and founder of UNLESS), publisher Lars Müller and creative director Marco Cendron (POMO).
Transform Diversity: Trade conference on books for children and young adults
What makes a good children’s book? How are stories for young readers told today? And what role does diversity play in this context? These and other topics are the focus of the Frankfurt Kids Conference, curated by Frankfurter Buchmesse, which will take place this year for the first time as part of the book fair. Experts from the publishing industry will be joined by representatives of children’s and youth organisations to discuss children’s books in a socio-political context and from an international perspective. Speakers will include Peter Warwick, President and CEO of Scholastic; Loulou Drinkwaard and D’Avellonne van Dijk, founders of Wilde Haren (Netherlands); illustrator Anete Melece (Latvia); and literary agent Anja Mundt, owner of Mundt Agency (Germany). Held in English, the conference will take place on Wednesday, 19 October, from 9.15 am to noon in the Congress Center, Level 3, Conference Room Illusion. Tickets and programme:
https://www.buchmesse.de/en/highlights/professional-programme/frankfurt-kids(opens in a new window)
Translate. Transfer. Transform. – Focus on Translating
Under the motto “Translate. Transfer. Transform.” Frankfurter Buchmesse is putting a special focus on the topic of translation. Together with VdÜ, the German translators’ association, the organisers will be staging a diverse programme of events in the International Translation Centre (Hall 4.0 G101/G114): on Wednesday, the DIALOGMUSEUM will kick things off with the presentation Blinde Übersetzung (Blind Translation), which will consider translating from a different perspective. Additional events will focus on translating comics, nonfiction and children’s and young adult literature, as well as post-colonial translations, among other topics. The visibility of translators and editors and how Arabic literature is received in Europe will also be discussed. Nina George, president of the European Writers’ Council, will present the initiative Free All Words, which provides funding for the translation of works by authors from Ukraine and Belarus. The International Translation Centre’s partners are European literary organisations such as Czech Lit, ENLIT, FILI, Goethe-Institut, Litprom e.V., the Slovenian Book Agency, Die Weltlesebühne e.V. and others.
The complete programme will be accessible shortly on the Frankfurter Buchmesse website and in the online Calendar of Events. More information is also available in the press release included in this press kit.