Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025: Stars, stories and a weekend for visitors of all ages
Featuring international bestselling authors, a literary gala, Frankfurt Kids Festival and community events from BookTok to New Adult
Frankfurt will be celebrating books – and their stars. At Frankfurter Buchmesse visitors can meet up with Maja Lunde, Lea Ypi, Kamel Daoud, Tad Williams, Fedor Holz, V.E. Schwab and many others.
New this year: the general public can enter the book fair starting at 10:00 am on Friday. Book sales will be permitted on all days of the fair.
Several stages will host discussions and book presentations with prominent authors, organised by TV broadcaster ARTE: Maja Lunde will talk about her book Unplug our Kids. Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa will present her book How to Stand up to a Dictator – The Fight for Our Future. Irina Scherbakowa, founding member of the human rights organisation Memorial, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022, will provide insights into her latest book Moscow Memories.
Literature Stage from ARD, ZDF and 3sat
The Literature Stage organised by TV broadcasters ARD, ZDF and 3sat also has many exciting speakers lined up for the audience. Confirmed international guests include Can Dündar, Georgi Gospodinov and Jens Stoltenberg. Following the success of the 2024 Buchzeit Literary Gala, another high-profile gala featuring renowned authors will take place at the book fair in 2025, hosted by Thea Dorn and Denis Scheck. Participants who have confirmed their attendance include Karl Schlögel, winner of the 2025 Peace Prize of the German Book Trade, bestselling author Ursula Poznanski, among others.
The gala will be recorded in front of a live audience on Friday, 17 October, at 8:00 pm on the Literary Stage organised by ARD, ZDF, and 3sat.
Frankfurt Kids Festival: Stories to be amazed by and participate in
From Friday to Sunday, the fair will be geared towards families. Children can fly into space like astronauts in the German Aerospace Center’s SpaceBuzz One, paint their own Kleines WIR (Small Us) with Daniela Kunkel, or listen to stories by Axel Scheffler and Sybille Hein on read-aloud day. Margit Auer (Die Schule der magischen Tiere / The School of Magical Animals), Paul Maar (Sams), and Katja Brandis (Windwalkers) will be in attendance on Sunday, along with astronaut Matthias Maurer of the European Space Agency, who will talk about training for the moon. The Frankfurt Kids Festival will bring books to life – books to listen to, be amazed by, laugh at and participate in.
New Adult, Fantasy & BookTok
The community stage for New Adult, Fantasy, and Romantasy continues to grow. Fans can meet their favourite authors in Hall 1.2 and the Festhalle starting on Friday. V.E. Schwab, SenLinYu, Mercedes Ron and Abby Jimenez are among the writers who will be signing autographs in the Meet the Author area. On Saturday evening, the TikTok Book Awards will be presented.
Manga and comics
Manga and comics for visitors of all ages: the public will be invited to join “drawing corners” in the Comics Business Centre (Hall 6.1). In Hall 3.0, publishers will be presenting new stories – from humorous comic strips to literary graphic novels. There will also be book signings and readings with authors and illustrators, who will bring their characters to life.
Strong voices: Experiencing audiobooks live
The audio programme at the book fair is growing – and with it, enthusiasm for audiobooks and podcasts. Stars such as Rufus Beck, Sebastian Fitzek, Caroline Wahl, Klaus-Peter Wolf, Sarah Kuttner, Lilly Lucas, D.C. Odesza, and the Drei ??? Kids will put in appearances at Frankfurt Audio. Poker pro Fedor Holz will reveal how he became world champion. Another highlight will be the Silent Audiobook Disco at the collective audiobook stand (Hall 3.1 K17), where visitors can don headphones and dive into new worlds of sound – from romance and thrillers to children’s audio plays.
Asia Stage: Literature from an Entire Continent
The Asia Stage brings writers and stories from across Asia to Frankfurt. Highlights include “Women’s Writing in Asia”, exploring questions of language, gender and censorship, and “The Rise of Healing Fiction”, a genre that has resonated with readers since the pandemic. “Queer Literature in Asia” celebrates visibility and diversity, while sessions on “Paranormal Writing” draw on myths and folklore to inspire new stories.
International Stage: Voices from Around the World
The International Stage brings major names and global debates to Frankfurt. Highlights include Kamel Daoud, French author and Prix Goncourt laureate, and Kenyan writer Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o, one of the most important voices in African literature. Christelle Dabos, bestselling author of The Mirror Visitor series, meets her international readers, while Chinese science fiction writer Gu Shi, nominated for the Hugo Award, presents her latest works. The program is complemented by writers from Chile, Georgia and Taiwan – from exile literature to graphic novels