Frankfurt Book Fair has Georgia as the Guest of Honor

Georgia is the Guest of Honor of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, giving the country an opportunity to showcase its literature and culture to the wide international audience on October 10-14.

More than the 70 Georgian authors have arrived to Frankfurt to talk about their books personally, while hundreds of cultural events will be held to further explore the country’s art, science, theater, cinematography, photography, music and much more.

The events are united under the main slogan “Georgia – Made by Characters”, putting an emphasis on country’s ancient script. Fittingly, the main venue of the Guest of Honor was inspired by the 33 letters of the Georgian alphabet, which was included in UNESCO’s intangible cultural heritage list in 2016.

“Not only are the new Georgian publications presented in the environment inspired by the 33 characters – 33 doors will also open here, 33 songs will sound out, 33 boats will sail and 33 loaves of bread will be baked,” the official press release reads.

Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze spoke of importance of being the Guest of Honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair for Georgia, and an opportunity to show the rest of the world the country’s unique alphabet.

Opening the book fair yesterday, EU High Representative/Vice-President Federica Mogherini underscored that “wherever Georgia is a guest of honor that is the right place for the European Union to be.”

Every year Frankfurt turns into an international venue for exchanging ideas about literature, and welcomes different countries as its Guest of Honor hosting its wide range of culture events not only at the fair, but at many other locations throughout the country.

On October 14, the guest country program will come to an end with a traditional handover ceremony hosted by Georgian author Zurab Karumidze and Norwegian writer Åsne Seierstad, as Norway takes over the status of the Guest of Honor for 2019.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)