Ngā mihi nui Aotearoa - Thank you, New Zealand!
From 10 to 14 October, New Zealand presented itself as Guest of Honour of the Frankfurt Book Fair under the motto “While you were sleeping/Bevor es bei Euch hell wird”.
In the Guest of Honour’s pavilion, more than 90,000 visitors set out on a journey to the other end of the universe. Surrounded by water on an island beneath a magical night sky, they could experience New Zealand’s storytelling in all its diversity, with authors’ readings, films, music and performances.
Pavilion architecture and design: Patterson Associates/Inside Out Productions
Authors and artists from the other side of the world in Frankfurt
Sixty-seven authors from New Zealand presented their books at the Book Fair 2012. These included a large number of new releases. During the year as Guest of Honour, some 80 authors and 69 artists and performers from New Zealand visited Germany, where they presented their country’s multifaceted literature and culture with readings, exhibitions, dance, theatre, music, film and culinary events.
New Zealand’s Guest of Honour programme comprised 420 events in all, 150 of which were held at the exhibition site; more than 140 were took place in Frankfurt and 130 in other cities.
At the exhibition site, besides the Guest of Honour pavilion in Level 1 of the Forum, there was also a New Zealand marquee on the Agora with Maori arts and crafts from Te Puia and a daily programme of stage performances. In Hall 8 about 40 New Zealand publishers contributed to the presentation at the large collective stand. On top of all that, New Zealand’s programme ensured it a presence throughout the Fair – for example in the Comics Centre, in the Forum Education, in the Gourmet Gallery, at the StoryDrive conference, and with a unique Hobbit-Cosplay. Hobbit-Cosplay.
In the end it was hard to say goodbye. It was great having you, New Zealand!
The Guest of Honour New Zealand on video: news, interviews, background information...
All Newzealand-Videos on the-Book Fair -YouTube-Channel
Books on New Zealand
The international book exhibition “Books on New Zealand” showed us New Zealand in all its many guises. The special exhibition gathered together current translations of New Zealand literature alongside books about the country’s culture, history, politics and contemporary life. Some 500 titles were on show, from 185 publishers in 21 countries.
Books on New Zealand
Translations and new releases
Record figures for translations and new releases
In the course of the Guest of Honour year, German translation rights were sold for 83 New Zealand titles.
By comparison, the average sales for book rights from New Zealand amount to just ten titles per year. This means there was an increase of over 700%!
Rights catalogue
To support translations of New Zealand literature into German, the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) has established a grant programme with an overall value of NZ$ 200,000.
By October 2012, 18 titles had already benefited form this support. Now, after the Guest of Honour appearance, it is still possible to submit applications for a translation grant.
Translation funding
Throughout the Guest of Honour year, German fans of New Zealand were treated to more than 200 new releases in German from 104 publishers. There is something for everyone.
Press kit
The Guest of Honour New Zealand held a press conference on 10 October 2012 to mark the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair. You can find their press folder here:
Press kit
Guest of Honour Iceland 2011 – A Review
"Iceland’s Guest of Honour Appearance was the best for a long time“ This was the headline in the Frankfurter Rundschau Frankfurter Rundschau, and during the Fair itself the Iceland Pavilion drew record visitor numbers. It featured huge screens where Icelanders would read from their favourite books, and visitors could enter a multimedia capsule to be carried off to the island’s mesmerizing natural world. About forty Icelandic authors were presenting their titles to packed audiences in the pavilion and around the Fair. The “Icelandic Sitting Room” became an island of calm amidst the hubbub, with some 916 Books to choose from at the Books-on-Iceland exhibition there. The Iceland Pavilion was where everybody came together – to read, to relax, to drink “brennivín” during the daily happy hour; it was THE meeting place at Frankfurt.
Review Guest-of-Honour Argentina 2010
Argentina celebrated its 200th anniversary of independence in 2010, and made its impressive Guest-of-Honour entrance at the Frankfurt Book Fair. During the Guest-of-Honour final press conference, FBF’s director Juergen Boos praised Argentina’s presence as the “most literary in years”; under the motto “Argentine, Culture on the Move” the country had staged more than 65 authors, 120 publishers and 150 events.