Meet authors, live podcasts, Italy: Here you can find out the most important things about the Frankfurt Book Fair 2024
What began in 1949 as a small book show in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche with the participation of 205 German publishers has established itself over the decades as the largest international book fair, where many creative ideas are exchanged.
Various media are interlinked at the book fair. For example, the e-book was integrated into the trade fair early on and new digital developments were taken up. The publishers also respond to “Bookstagram”, i.e. Instagramers with book content, or set up backdrops for cosplay fans.
Die Tickets for the visitor weekend (Friday, October 18th to Sunday, October 20th) are available online in advance this year. In addition, tickets are limited for the first time.
Italy is the guest country in 2024
Every year a country with its authors and books is the focus of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Italy will be the host country in 2024. In the guest of honor pavilion of the book fair, the country’s history will be told visually under the motto “Rooted in the Future”. More than 100 Italian authors are coming together in Frankfurt for this purpose. The book fair’s social media team is definitely getting ready for Italy.
With the AfD, a right-wing extremist party has won a state election in Thuringia for the first time in the history of the Federal Republic. And this despite the scandal surrounding the secret meeting in Potsdam, which was revealed by the research network Correctiv. The two Correctiv reporters Marcus Bensmann and Jean Peters look, on the one hand, at the impact of their research, but also forward: What do the results of the state elections in East Germany mean for democracy? The two will discuss these and more questions on the book fair Saturday, October 19th, from 10 a.m. in the Frankfurt Pavilion.
World record attempts by top trend athletes
This year the book fair will also be about records. Six world record attempts by top trend athletes are planned for the Sunday of the trade fair between 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. The BMX athlete and TikToker Chris Böhm @chris_boehm is there, who wants to do the most BMX revolutions on the front wheel – in one minute with just one hand on the handlebars.
René Mathussek (@thisismathu) is a freestyle football athlete. He wants to complete the most soccer passes between the head and the sole of the foot in a minute. Miguel-Emanuel Fanzem (@miguelfranzem) wants to do the most bicycle backflips off a ramp. Klaus Esono Bono (@bboyjamel) combines breakdancing and BMX. His goal. Most headspins on a bike in 30 seconds. And Simon Both, who demonstrates dance moves on his account @streichbruder on Instagram, wants to set a record for the most backflips in 30 seconds.
Meeting your favorite author
New this year at the book fair is the “Meet the Author” area: on the Agora at the Open Stage you can get personal dedications for books or take a selfie with your favorite authors. No extra ticket or booking of a time slot is necessary. The rule here is: just get in line.
This year’s Peace Prize of the German Book Trade goes to the Polish-American historian and journalist Anne Applebaum. The German Book Trade Association awarded Applebaum the prize “for her profound and horizon-expanding analyzes” about the communist and post-communist systems of the Soviet Union and Russia. She is considered a great expert on Eastern European history. Anne Applebaum warned early on about Vladimir Putin’s possible violent expansionist policies.
At a time when democracy is increasingly being caricatured and attacked, “her work becomes an extremely important contribution to the preservation of democracy and peace.” After previous positions at the Daily Telegraph and the Washington Post, Anne Applebaum now mainly writes for the US magazine The Atlantic. She will receive the prize on Sunday, October 20th, in Frankfurt’s Paulskirche.
evangelisch.de thanks indeon.de for the cooperation.
