Sixteen directors of international book fairs met in Gothenburg, Sweden last week for the biannual Conference of International Book Fair Directors, where they discussed the politicization of fairs and changing nature of the book industry, from the rise of audiobooks to consolidation.
The event was hosted by Frida Edman, who was recently appointed director of the Gothenburg International Book Fair and was attended by representatives from the Frankfurt Book Fair, the National Book Trust of India, the Guadalajara International Book Fair, and the Thessaloniki Book Fair, among others. David Unger, who is the U.S. representative of the Guadalajara Book Fair and serves as Secretary General of the organization, reports that a statement is forthcoming from the group in support of the promotion of human rights, reading, and diversity.
Pictured above: Front, left to right, Nopi Chatzgeorgiou (Thessaloniki), Elena Pasoli (Bologna), Jorge Gutierrez (Buenos Aires), Rita Chowdhury (National Book Trust of India), Michelle Tu (Taipei).
Back row: Marisol Schulz (Guadalajara), David Unger (Secretary General), Sandra Pulido (Bogota), Jacek Oryl (Warsaw), Marife Boix-Garcia (Frankfurt), Frida Edman (Gothenburg), Radovan Auer (Prague), Sunay Gurgin (Istanbul) and Sebastien Fresneau (Paris). Missing from the photo is Iroo Joo (Seoul).
