Leipzig Book Fair 2023: Literally surprising!

"The world of publishing is looking to the future and thus to Leipzig", says Martin Buhl-Wagner, Managing Director of Leipziger Messe. "Numerous well-known publishers, from large groups down to smaller creative companies, have registered for the Leipzig Book Fair 2023. They are coming here to celebrate the world of literature together with us as well as to provide food for thought and create opportunities for much-needed discussion in these uncertain times. We are very much looking forward to it!"

It is still possible to register for the Leipzig Book Fair and Manga Comic-Con until 15 November. Thanks to the support of the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media (BKM), exhibitors will receive a discount on their stand rental using funding from the "Neustart Kultur" economic stimulus package. There is no need to submit a separate application for this discount, as it will be deducted directly from your invoice. You can find all the information you need on registration and "Leipzig liest" at www.leipziger-buchmesse.de/ausstellerwerden.

Austria Is Guest of Honour at the Leipzig Book Fair 2023

This year's Guest of Honour Austria is appearing under the slogan "Meaoiswiamia", which means "more than we alone" and sends a clear message to visitors, asking them to think about things from a different perspective. So many people think they know our neighbours so well, which is why Austria is deliberately aiming to question such stereotyping. With a wide-ranging programme, the Guest of Honour will invite visitors to discover not only literature from its varied cultural scene but also theatre, art and music. Previews of the Leipzig programme are available on the current "Literature House Tour" of German-speaking countries. You can find out more at:

https://gastland-leipzig23.at/

At long last, Portugal is also looking forward to presenting itself at the Leipzig Exhibition Centre. Its elaborate display was cancelled due to the pandemic and has not yet been shown. Selected elements will now be on show for visitors in 2023 while at the same time offering a fitting platform for Portuguese authors.

Book Fair Provides New Discussion Formats: "It Has Never Been More Urgent to Talk to Each Other".

"It has never been more urgent to talk to each other, even to argue with each other, but always listen to each other", says the Director of the Leipzig Book Fair, Oliver Zille. "If there is one thing words can do, it is to open up new perspectives on things, to surprise us and ideally to help us to understand each other better. If the Book Fair in 2023 helps to achieve this, then we have reached our most important goal. That is what we stand for and that is what we are working towards!"

Literature from South-East Europe will be presented by the Traduki Network as part of the Leipzig Book Fair. The network is bringing together ten countries that are only rarely seen together on the political and cultural stage on a collective stand with their German-speaking partners. The ten countries are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, Montenegro, Northern Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Slovenia. Furthermore, the Traduki Network will be inviting authors to attend talks and readings to sound out what their identities have in common, as well as how they differ.

Forum for an Open Society | Culture in Focus: Workshops for Children and Teens

For the first time, the Forum for an Open Society will be opening its doors. In one-hour slots, social topics concerning diversity and variety will be under discussion. Authors, politicians, scientists and journalists will all be participating in the panels. Numerous other political stages such as the Café Europa and Forum Weltweit will be offering spaces for reflection and international discussion. A separate stage will provide a forum for Ukrainian publishers and authors.

Reading is an essential life skill right from childhood, not only to enable people to cope with everyday tasks but also for them to belong to society and our democracy. The Leipzig Book Fair has supported this need for many years. At the Book Fair, children and teens are introduced to the world of words from an early age with a wide-ranging cultural education programme. This year, there will be a large selection of workshops for the first time. Art forms for this target group, including rap, poetry, poetry slam, theatre and street art, will enable children and teens to immerse themselves in various topics such as diversity, cosmopolitanism and democratic structures, as well as to discover the pleasure of reading, the teaching of literature and creativity. Hundreds of readings for children, teens and fantasy fans will whisk audiences away to amazing fantasy worlds. This year, in cooperation with the podcast "Bücheralarm" (Book Alert), there will be a dedicated Podcast Stage for the first time. Visitors can see how a podcast is made and even contribute themselves.

Hall 2 is where the large Educational Area will be focusing on the future of learning. Teachers can expect a wide-ranging exhibition and a comprehensive programme of events on education. For the first time, practical workshops will be available at the Teaching in Practice Forum (FUP) organised by the Association for Educational Media (Verband Bildungsmedien). Teachers and educators can be thrilled and inspired at the Forum on Educational Trends and at the wide range of events for teachers and educators at the Congress Center Leipzig.

In Hall 4, not only words but also music will be ringing out. In the large Music exhibition area, visitors will find various publishers together with a wide-ranging programme of musical workshops at the Musik Café. Friday at the fair is Music Teacher's Day. The Federal Association for Music Teaching (BMU) and MDR Klassik radio will be presenting interesting ideas for practical use in music lessons.

"Leipzig liest": New Formats for the Public and Trade Get-Togethers for the Industry

Visitors can enjoy not only the largest reading festival in Europe but also one of the broadest overviews of the world of literature at "Leipzig liest". The accompanying programme of events offers established formats as well as new and inspirational platforms. At the newly created Media Forum, visitors can experience the voice of the media world. In half-hour interviews, editors will chat with authors about their spring releases. The television channels ARD and ZDF are once again planning to stage events with the great thinkers of our time. The new Meet-The-Author Stage will provide surprising inspiration. Specific themes will be brought into focus, with five or six works presented for each. These will be accompanied by panels and book tables where visitors can engage in personal discussions with authors. As always, books will also be read across the entire city. Libraries, cinemas, museums and galleries will be opening their doors in the evenings to embrace literature.

The industry can once again benefit from inspiring events on the comprehensive conference programme. Authors, publishers, teachers and translators can discover exciting new ideas for their future daily work at the congresses and networking events. Finally, the Leipzig Authors' Round Table will be back live. For authors and self-publishers, the conference programme will begin with keynote lectures by experts. These will be followed as usual by the popular round table discussions on various topics. The short slots ensure there is enough time for personal exchanges.

Leipzig Book Fair Prize Honours Outstanding Works of the Year

The best works of the year will once again be honoured with the Leipzig Book Fair Prize. The jury has time until 23 March to read all the nominated books. After that, the nominations in the categories fiction, non-fiction/essays and translation will be announced by the jury of seven under its chairwoman Insa Wilke. Further information is available at

www.preis-der-leipziger-buchmesse.de .

Manga Comic-Con Extended into Hall 3 for the First Time

At the same time as the Leipzig Book Fair, Manga Comic-Con will take place with its colourful world of comics, manga and more. For the first time, Manga Comic-Con will be extended from Hall 1 into Hall 3, where it will blend together with the area for children, teens and fantasy books. Visitors can look forward to enjoyable stage events as well as exhibitors showing manga, comics and games. Numerous honourable guests from international publishing houses are expected to attend.

The Reading Compass will take on a new format in 2023 with "Comic Edition" as its first-ever thematic focus. The prize awarded by the Leipzig Book Fair and the reading foundation "Stiftung Lesen" aims to inspire children to read and has a thematic focus for the first time this year. "Comics and mangas offer wonderful opportunities to encourage children to read", explains Kerstin Krämer, Project Director of the area for children and teens at the Leipzig Book Fair. "They are often very entertaining, sometimes political, sometimes thought-provoking and they always break new ground in the world of kids and teens. We are thrilled to be able to focus more strongly on such an important area in 2023."

Opening hours and prices

The Leipzig Book Fair together with Manga Comic-Con and "Leipzig liest" will take place from 27 to 30 April. Tickets are available from February at www.leipziger-buchmesse.de. Ticket prices will be published in November. Currently, there are no specific hygiene regulations. To protect your health, we recommend you wear a protective mask in situations where it is not possible to keep your distance. We will keep you informed of any changes on a daily basis on our website.

About the Leipzig Book Fair

The Leipzig Book Fair is the most important spring rendezvous for the book and media industry and is a trade fair for readers, authors, and publishers. It presents the spring's new releases, current themes and trends, and also exhibits novelties from Central and Eastern Europe in addition to new German-language literature. The Guest of Honour at the Leipzig Book Fair 2023 is Austria. Thanks to the unique combination of a trade fair and "Leipzig reads" – Europe's largest reading festival – the book fair has become a magnet for the public. In conjunction with the Leipzig Book Fair, Manga Comic-Con (MCC) will open in Halls 1 and 3. At the last event, 286,000 visitors to the exhibition site and across the city were able to enjoy spring novelties presented by 2,500 exhibitors from 46 countries.

About Leipziger Messe

Leipziger Messe is one of the ten leading German trade fair companies and one of the top 50 worldwide. It organises events in Leipzig and at various locations in Germany and abroad. With its five subsidiaries, the Congress Center Leipzig (CCL) and the KONGRESSHALLE am Zoo Leipzig, Leipziger Messe is a comprehensive service provider covering the entire event organisation sector. Thanks to the services it offers, customers and visitors voted Leipziger Messe the service champion of the trade fair industry in Germany's biggest service ranking in 2021 for the eighth time in a row. The Leipzig Exhibition Centre comprises an exhibition area of 111,900 m² and an outdoor area of 70,000 m². Every year it hosts an average of 270 events, including trade fairs, exhibitions and congresses. Leipzig was the first German trade fair company to be certified according to the Green Globe standards. Sustainability is a recurring theme in Leipziger Messe's corporate activities.

More information: www.leipziger-buchmesse.de