International Book Fair coming to Jerusalem
Biennial literary event will kick off at capital's historic train station on February 8. Albanian writer Ismail Kadare will receive 2015 Jerusalem Prize for 2015 during opening ceremony.
The fair, which runs from February 8 to 12, will include hundreds of literary events which will be open to the public.
The Jerusalem Prize is awarded to an author who expresses in his writing the freedom of the Individual in Society. The prize has been awarded in the past to five writers who later received the Nobel Literary Prize. The prize will be awarded to Kadare by Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.
Born in 1936, Kadare is Albania’s best-known poet and novelist. His books have been translated into 30 different languages.
In 2005 he was awarded the first Man Booker International Prize for "a body of work written by an author who has had a truly global impact." He is also the recipient of the 2009 Principe de Asturias de las Letras in Spain.
First held in 1963, The Jerusalem International Book Fair is a unique biennial event, renown not only as a business fair but also as a prestigious and important cultural event which attracts heads of renowned publishing houses, agents, sales personnel, foreign rights representatives, editors and authors.
With the attendance of more than 600 publishers and authors from more than 30 countries, it displays more than 100,000 books in different languages.
The fair offers a combination between a commercial book fair which advances international relations with the Israeli publishing world and offers dozens of bookstands with all the latest innovations and publications of global publishers and leading Israeli publishers, and Israel's biggest literary happening, which offers hundreds of cultural events, including meetings with dozens of authors and poets from Israel and around the world, film screenings, workshops, exhibitions, shows and cultural activities for children, which are all open to the public free of charge.
The foreign authors who will participate in the Jerusalem fair this year include Anna Enquist (from the Netherlands), Gabi Gleichmann (Norway), Eva Menasse (Austria), Erri De Luca (Italy), Ann Hood (the United States), Ariana Harwicz (Argentina), Janusz Głowacki (Poland), Jennifer Teege (Germany), Mark Russ-Federman (the US), Paolo Giordano (Italy), Elena Loewenthal (Italy), Salah Al-Hamdani (Iraq-France) and Irena Karpa (Ukraine).
The publishers who will attend the fair this year include Markus Dohle, the chief executive officer of Penguin Random House; Geneviève Brisac, a writer and publisher from France's most popular publishing house for children's book, Ecole des loisirs; Jean Mattern from French publisher Gallimard; Olivier Cohen, who has published all of Israeli novelist Aharon Appelfeld's writings in France; Stefan von Holtzbrinck, the owner of Stuttgart-based publishing holding company Verlagsgruppe Georg von Holtzbrinck; Vera Michalski-Hoffmann from Switzerland, one of the strongest women in the global world of publishing and president of the Bureau International de l'Édition Française (BIEF), WHICH is responsible for the international promotion of French books; Sophy Thompson from British publisher of illustrated books Thames & Hudson; and the first Egyptian publisher to participate in the fair – Tanweer Publishing.
Events open to the public
The artistic program offers hundreds of literary and cultural events which will be open to the public from morning to evening: Lectures and meetings with Israeli and international authors, writing workshops, creative activity and storytelling for children, cookbook demonstrations, book launches, poem readings, shows, film screenings, musical events and more.
One of the displays, "The Disappearing Screen," features a wall made up of 5.000 blocks resting in a transparent grid and inscribed with literary quotes from German translated in to Hebrew and Arabic. The public is invited to come see through the quotations and take a block home.
The Fair's unique Editorial and Agent Fellowship Programs invited a group of young promising and talented editors and agents to attend the fair, providing them a unique opportunity to meet their international contemporaries, exchange ideas, learn from each other about challenges they are facing and professional problems they have to deal with every day. The program also includes seminars and international symposia on publishing today; social events and tours.
Thirty-nine candidates from 17 countries were admitted into the program this year out of a total of 200 candidates. Some 40 of the program's graduates from around the world will arrive at the fair this year to mark the program's 30th anniversary.
For the full program, visit the Jerusalem International Book Fair's website: http://jbookfair.com/ .
