A controversy surrounding an Italian writer engaged against Giorgia Meloni, new sulphurous literary trends and artificial intelligence: the largest international book fair, which begins Wednesday in Frankfurt, will not lack hot topics.
This unmissable annual event brings together authors, publishers and other key members of the sector for five days in the German city.
This year, the authors who will be at the top of the bill will be the historian Yuval Noah Harari – famous for his book “Sapiens: A Brief History of Humanity” -, the American author Anne Applebaum and the British novelist Elif Shafak.
On the other hand, the absence of Roberto Saviano from the official Italian delegation, country “guest of honor” of the fair this year, triggered a controversy darkening this high mass of the book.
The association of Italian publishers did not retain this writer and journalist, author in 2006 of the successful investigation « Gomorrah » on the Italian mafia and fined last year for defaming far-right Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
“Political interference”
Shortly after, Roberto Saviano attacked the “the most ignorant government in the history of Italy” on social networks. The writer was eventually invited to the fair by his German publisher.
A pavilion at the Frankfurt Book Fair, October 14, 2024 / Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP
But in protest against his exclusion from the official selection, 41 Italian writers signed an open letter to denounce “an increasingly stifling political interference in the cultural domain” and a degradation of freedom of expression in the country.
There was no “external interference” for the constitution of “Roots in the future”name of the Italian selection of 2024, replied the association of Italian publishers.
The fair is not its first controversy: last year, several publishers from predominantly Muslim countries withdrew from the event, faced with the support for Israel shown by the organizers, shortly after the attack of October 7 carried out by Hamas and the start of Israeli bombings in Gaza.
Despite the controversy, fair director Jürgen Boos considers it legitimate that Italy remains the guest of honor.
“I believe it is very important to show what is happening at the moment in Italy on a cultural and political level”he assures AFP. The Italian delegation will include many of the most prominent writers in contemporary Italian literature.
– Low-end books –
Other topics are set to dominate the world’s largest publishing show, with more than a thousand authors and speakers scheduled in some 650 events on fifteen different stages.
A large space will be devoted to literature « new adult » et « new romance »version 2.0 of the novel with rose water and rich in subgenres with often extravagant names, from the « Romantasy » – halfway between romance and fantasy – with student intrigues from « dark college ».
These literary genres have become essential for young readers, particularly thanks to the social network TikTok, on which authors publish their works and collect readers’ opinions.
In Frankfurt, artificial intelligence will also be at the forefront: several conferences will address the sector’s fears in the face of the avalanche of low-end books written by algorithm or fears of copyright infringement.
“Regarding copyright, it’s a big mess”opine Jürgen Boos.
Prominent authors like John Grisham and Jodi Picoult recently sued OpenAI, accusing the American company of illegally using their works to power its ChatGPT interface.
But for the director of the Frankfurt fair, AI can also bring positive things to the world of publishing, by improving “workflows in publishing houses” and supporting writing in the research and science sector.
Another highlight will be the presentation of the “German Bookstore Peace Prize”awarded this year to Anne Applebaum, a Polish-American journalist and historian whose latest book, « Autocracy Inc. »studies how authoritarian states tighten their ties.
