From 27 until 30 April, Germany is hosting the international Leipzig Book Fair (Leipziger Buchmesse), which Latvia will be attending with its national exhibition stand and a special events programme. Latvia's participation in the book fair is organized by the “Latvian Literature” platform.
This year, Latvia will be represented at the Leipzig Book Fair by the “Latvian Literature” platform and the “Jelgavas tipogrāfija” printing house. The events programme will feature readings and presentations with authors Jānis Joņevs, Semjons Haņins and Signe Viška. The visitors of the Latvian exhibition stand will have the opportunity to get acquainted with works of Latvian prose, poetry and children's literature and their English, French, Spanish, and German translations. The Latvian stand (Hall 4, Stand D305) was designed by Jānis Mercs.
One of the key events of the book fair is the nomination of Zigmunds Skujiņš's novel "The Bed with the Golden Leg" for the Leipzig Book Fair Prize in the "Translation" category. The novel, translated by Nicole Nau, was published by the German publishing house "Mareverlag". The Leipzig Book Market Prize has been awarded since 2005, highlighting the best publications in the German language in three categories – fiction, documentary prose, and the best translation. The winners will be announced on April 27 at 16:00.
“This is the first time in the history of Latvia's participation in the fair that one of our literary translations has been nominated for this award. We are very pleased not only that German readers are interested in the work of our renowned author Zigmunds Skujiņš, but also that we have such a great translator as Nikola Nau. We will be patiently waiting for new and equally brilliant translations of Latvian literary works into German from Nikole!” said Rita Dementjeva, representative of the "Latvian Literature" platform.
Approximately 2,500 participants are expected to attend this year's Leipzig Book Fair, and more than 2,400 events will take place, among which five events will feature representatives from Latvia. On April 27 at 21:00 German local time, the "Besser Leben" gallery will host an event organized by the "Parasitenpresse", in which Latvian writer Jānis Jonevs will also participate with a reading. Last year, his novel "Doom 94" was published in Germany, translated from Latvian by Bettina Bergmann. On April 27 at 22:00, a poetry reading will be held at the socio-cultural centre "die naTo" in Leipzig, in which the poet Semyon Hanin will take part. In 2021, the Austrian publishing house "Edition Korrespondenzen" published his poetry collection "But not with that" translated by Anja Utler.
On April 28 at 12:00, the Leipzig Book Fair (Hall 3, Stand A515) will host a presentation of the translation of "Kate Wanted to Become Grandfather" by the author of children's books Signe Viška (illustrated by Elīna Brasliņa). The book was published this year by the Swiss publishing house "Atlantis Verlag" with its German title “Kati will Großvater werden”. At 16:00 (Hall 4, Stand C407) the presentation event for the translations of "Doom 94" by Jānis Joņevs and "Berlin" by Andris Kuprišs will be held. Kupriš's book was published last year by "Ammian Verlag", translated by Betina Bergmann. At 16:00, the Leipzig book market (Hall 4, Stand E406) will also host the presentation of Zigmunds Skujiņš's book "The Bed with the Golden Leg".
More about the Leipzig Book Fair HERE.
