In the year in which the Netherlands and Flanders will jointly present themselves as guests of honour at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the Dutch Boekenweek (Bookweek) aims at Germany, under the motto Was Ich nog zu sagen hätte. This was reported today by CPNB in a press release.
The 81st Bookweek – a unique collective effort of the Dutch book industry, organized by the CPNB - is held from March 12 to 20 2016. The Flemish author David Van Reybrouck will write the bookweek essay. It had already been announced that Esther Gerritsen will write the bookweek giftbook.
About the Low Countries as guests of honour
In 2016 Flanders and the Netherlands will present themselves as guests of honour at the 68th Frankfurter Buchmesse. The Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Flemish Literature Fund have taken responsibility for the practical organization of the guest-of-honour programme. The events at, around, and leading up to the Book Fair are being coordinated by a team of six, with at the helm artistic intendant Bart Moeyaert and managing director Bas Pauw.
The Book Fair in Frankfurt takes place every year in October and, with around 7,300 participating exhibitors from over 100 countries, more than 9,000 journalists and around 275,000 visitors, it is the largest and most important book fair in the world. Recent guests of honour were New Zealand (2012), Brazil (2013) and Finland (2014). In 2015 Indonesia will be Ehrengast.
There are strong and active connections between Germany and its neighbours to the west. The Dutch-Flemish guest-of-honour programme at the Frankfurter Buchmesse will emphasize the reciprocal nature of this interest, initiate cultural dialogue and strive for greater visibility of German culture in the Netherlands and Flanders in 2016.
