While exhibitors were preparing for the official start of the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday, the opening press conference on Tuesday morning—featuring speeches by German Publishers and Booksellers Association chair Karin Schmidt-Friderichs, Frankfurt Buchmesse director Juergen Boos, and Turkish author Elif Shafak—foreshadowed what will likely be topics of discussion across the event—politics, global conflict, and technology. Schmidt-Frederichs noted that diversity has always been part of the fair, and that it is “an event where clear distinction is made between fact and fiction,” “where debate is cultivated, freedom of opinion is practiced.” While she did not reference the US election or […]
