Große Namen, große Fragen: Die 78. Frankfurter Buchmesse bringt internationale Gäste nach Frankfurt und gibt Debatten Raum
As the annual gathering of the international book and media industry, the book fair in Frankfurt serves as a marketplace, a literary festival and a forum for debate. Jill Lepore, Colson Whitehead, Jenny Erpenbeck, Robert Habeck, Gisèle Pelicot, Mariana Mazzucato, Volker Schlöndorff, Wolf Biermann and many other prominent figures from the worlds of literature, film, academia and politics have announced their participation in the 2026 fair.
The 78th Frankfurter Buchmesse (7 – 11 October 2026) will bring the international book and media world to Frankfurt. With a reorganised hall layout, clearly defined stages, prominent international voices and ample space for trade programmes and the public, the book fair is dedicated to fostering connections: through rights trading, translations, audio formats, film and games – and, not least, through in-person encounters between authors and their fans – stories find their way to readers.
“Attention is a hotly contested commodity today. There are more and more platforms, recommendations, and algorithms standing between a book and its readers. The answer to this begins with interactions,” says Juergen Boos, Director of Frankfurter Buchmesse. “The Frankfurter Buchmesse brings together people who write, translate, publish, sell and read books. In 2026, we’ll be reorganising the space where these interactions take place as each hall will have a clearly recognisable theme. This will provide better orientation and more time for conversations.”
New spaces for orientation and interaction
All events open to the general public are located on the ground floors of the halls and on the Agora. Mystery, romance, fantasy and other genres will have clearly designated areas. The book fair is catering to the growing programmes for trade visitors and the public with 10 curated stages. In addition, there will be stages hosted by numerous partners and exhibitors, including the literary stage hosted by broadcasters ARD, ZDF and 3sat, the Reading Zone of Independent Publishers, and the Centre of Words.
Frankfurt Calling: Literature addresses today’s issues
Frankfurter Buchmesse is dedicated to addressing the pressing issues of our time. As part of the cultural-policy programme Frankfurt Calling, international guests will discuss democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, global conflicts, and technological developments and their consequences.
A number of high-profile figures have announced their participation: historian Jill Lepore will analyse the crisis of American democracy. Asma Mhalla and Dietmar Dath will discuss the right to think in the digital age. Robert Habeck will reflect on society’s shift to the right, and Philippe Sands will shed light on the consequences of ecocide. Gisèle Pelicot and Wolf Biermann are also expected in Frankfurt.
Prominent figures from the worlds of literature, film and academia
This year’s book fair will once again be a gathering of major names. Literary luminaries such as Colson Whitehead, Radka Denemarková, Jenny Erpenbeck, Yang Shuang-zi, Volker Schlöndorff, Axel Scheffler, Cornelia Funke, Nele Neuhaus, Caroline Wahl, Frauke Brosius-Gersdorf and Mariana Mazzucato will be traveling to Frankfurt.
Trade programme: Rights, AI and the future of publishing
Artificial intelligence runs as a cross-cutting theme throughout the trade programme. Experts will discuss the opportunities and challenges of AI for publishers and rights managers, for metadata, learning processes and the production of audiobooks. The white paper “Who Is Narrating the Future?”, compiled by Dosdoce.com and the Frankfurter Buchmesse, examines how AI is used in audio production. The growing audio market will be in the limelight, thanks to a high-calibre trade programme, which kicks off with numerous panels on the Wednesday of the fair. Among many other speakers, Tonies CEO Tobias Wanner will provide insights into the company’s strategy.
The Frankfurt Rights Meeting is celebrating its 40th anniversary. Under the theme “Rights Then. Rights Now,” rights and licensing professionals from around the world will gather online in September and in person in Frankfurt on 6 October. The focus will be on AI in the rights trade, business with French-speaking markets, media for children and young adults, and the sale of rights in English-speaking markets. To mark the anniversary, four generations of rights professionals will share their experiences.
Book-to-Screen Day will take place on Friday, 9 October 2026. Filmmakers, screenwriters, publishers, agents and other creatives will be discovering new stories and ideas from the international book industry as they network and explore potential film and TV-series adaptations. Frankfurter Buchmesse uses a variety of events to bring the publishing and screen industries together.
Kids Conference: Rewriting the Future
On 7 October, participants at the Frankfurt Kids Conference, which is dedicated this year to the topic “Rewriting the Future”, will explore prospects for children’s and young adult literature in coming years. Other industry events will focus on inclusive children’s literature, the international adaptation of books for film and TV series, and “worldbuilding” in books and games. Publishers, authors, developers, producers and other creatives will come together for Games Day on Thursday, 8 October.
The Centre of Words will offer a space for topics related to translation and international literature. Discussions with titles such as “Bohemian Villages” on the translation of contemporary Czech literature or “Mined Terrain – Translation in a Geopolitical Tug-of-War” will highlight the crucial role translators play in fostering literary and social understanding.
From Wednesday to Friday, to mark the 50th anniversary of Frankfurter Buchmesse 1976 – the first time the book fair had a theme, namely Latin America – the newly established LatAm Stage will highlight industry topics from countries in the region. At the weekend, the spotlight will be on authors, artists and creatives from South America. In 2026, the Frankfurt Global Network will focus for the first time on comics, manga, graphic novels and visual stories. The Comics Business Centre will offer a trade programme, market presentations and networking opportunities.
General public days: New worlds for stories and their fans
From 9 to 11 October, Frankfurter Buchmesse will also become a festival of literature. Authors will read, tell stories, participate in discussions and sign books. Content creators will bring their communities along. Fans of romance, fantasy and new adult media will gather on the Agora, in the Festhalle and in other halls. The new Community Stage will feature talks and interactive sessions on fantasy, games and pop culture. In the Meet-the-Author area, book lovers will have the chance to meet their favourite authors.
For the first time, manga, cosplay and Japanese pop culture will have their own featured spot on the Matsuri Stage. The Kira Kira Pop Art Event will host drawing classes and hands-on activities; artists from Japan and Germany will perform. Daily cosplay contests will bring costume art and literary characters to the stage.
Children’s and young adult media will have a new central hub: the Imagination Stage (Hall 4.0). The Frankfurt Kids Festival will be expanded at the weekend to include readings, drawing sessions and hands-on activities. In the new Screen World (also in Hall 4.0), families can enjoy film discussions, along with children’s films and literary adaptations in a cinema setting.
Guest of Honour Czechia: “A Country on the Coast”
The Czech Republic is the book fair’s Guest of Honour in 2026. Under the theme “A Country on the Coast”, 75 authors across all genres will travel to Frankfurt. As part of the fair’s Guest of Honour programme, since 2024 well over 100 books have been published in German translation for the first time. The 2,300-square-metre pavilion, titled “Imagination Interface”, transports visitors to a poetic coastal landscape featuring round, inflatable elements, interactive buoys and a poetic lighthouse. Artificial intelligence will bring Czech literature to life in its own unique way; live artworks will created with the help of a robot, among other methods.
Readings, discussions and trade events will take place every day of the fair on two stages in the Guest of Honour Pavilion. The “Year of Czech Culture” will extend far beyond the fairgrounds: dozens of events from the worlds of literature, film, theatre and music, as well as 10 exhibitions at cultural institutions in Frankfurt and other cities in the state of Hesse, will allow visitors to discover the Czech Republic’s cultural diversity.
Visitors can find the complete programme, additional information about events, and tickets at www.buchmesse.de/en and in the Frankfurter Buchmesse app.