Vorfreude - Looking forward to Italy as the Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2024

Italy - “Il Bel Paese” – who doesn’t think of romantic sunsets on the Amalfi Coast, delicious pasta in Bologna, the Colosseum in Rome? And yet…Italy is so much more than that. With its rich culture, the country has already produced five Nobel Prize winners. And it is not only rooted in the past, but also in the future, as the motto 'Roots in the future' suggests.

“I think this is a unique opportunity to work with such a cultural nation,” said Jürgen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair. “Of course we all know the clichés. We know the Three Tenors, we know everything that has to do with the culinary arts. But I don’t think we know all the young authors at all.”

Of course, Italian cuisine will not be completely missing when Italy appears as Guest of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in October 2024, nor will references to everything that defines the Italian culture. “There will be a lot of film with it. They plan to bring the best chefs of Italy, and I think they will also be featured at the Agora,” explains Jürgen Boos.

The “Agora” – this is guest country pavilion at Frankfurt Book Fair. A piazza measuring more than 2000 m², designed by star architect Stefano Boeri. Like a real Italian piazza, it should be a meeting place and a place for exhibitions. For example, about ancient Rome or about Goethe, who with his trip to Italy celebrated the 'land where the lemon trees bloom'.

“We are currently working on the programme together with the Italian Publishers Association AIE,” says Lucia de Luca from the Guest of Honour. So far more than 300 suggestions have been received. This is an extraordinary reservoir of authors and books that form the basis of the programme with more than 80 authors.”

The programme will be presented in June. We can look forward to discovering many modern voices from the Italian literary landscape, alongside classics such as Dante and Boccaccio, Umberto Eco and Natalia Ginzburg.

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