Taiwan is joining the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest trade fair for books, with “Stories Ahead: Taiwan Lit Now" as its pavilion theme. The rich diversity of the publishing landscape in Taiwan will be showcased on site and online for visitors and readers from around the world thanks to the organizer, Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA), and the co-organizer, Taipei Book Fair Foundation (TBFF).
Dr. Jiun-Wei Lu, Chief Executive Officer of TAICCA, expressed his expectation that publications from Taiwan would impress global publishers at the Frankfurt Book Fair, creating more exchange and opportunities. Shieh Jhy-wey, Taiwan’s Representative to Germany, shared how he has been proud of Taiwan's publications at the opening party of the Taiwan Pavilion.
Taiwan Pavilion: 73 Publishers + 366 Books
Books From Taiwan (BFT) Initiative marks its 10th anniversary this year with a networking event organized by TAICCA
A total of 366 books from 73 participating publishers are exhibited at the Taiwan Pavilion, where the key visual took inspiration from the idea of “a small but firm stance”. Designer Jui-Che Wu interprets the passionate and positive creative energy of Taiwan with images of tiny and shiny dewdrops on new spouts, emitting subtle light.
The Taiwan Pavilion consists of different zones of books, including the "Theme Selection: Identity," which seeks to understand and construct identity from various perspectives— self, gender, culture, society, ethnic group, and nation; "Award-winning Titles” zone, on the other hand, showcases award-winners from the Golden Tripod Awards, the Taiwan Literature Awards, the Golden Comic Awards, and the TIBE Book Prize, as well as books whose foreign rights are sold via the Translation Grant Program by the Ministry of Culture, Taiwan.
Taiwan pavilion hosts two international right matchmaking events during the Frankfurt Book Fair
Taiwan Pavilion: Recommended Authors and Events
This year, Recommended Authors at the Taiwan Pavilion include renowned Dr. Lung Yingtai, Shu-Wen Hu, Liglav A-wu, Pam Pam Liu, and Kaori Lai, winner of the 2022 Taiwan Literature Awards / Annual Golden Grand Laurel Award.
Following the release of the German edition of Dr. Lung’s new novel, She Walks the Kavulungan Mountains, she will share the philosophy, ecology, thriller, and love elements in the book with international readers, while Monika Li, the translator of the book, will read a few passages on site. In addition, the Taiwan Pavilion has organized several Author Talks, highlighting the unique perspectives on history, aboriginal culture, imagery, and women's writing by Taiwanese creators; comic artist Pam Pam Liu will offer two Live Portrait Drawing events as well.
Sharky Chen, President of Indie Publishers Association of Taiwan, attended the independent publishing forum with fellow panelists from Germany and Kenya.
“Books from Taiwan Initiative” Celebrates its 10th Anniversary with Bustling Right Exchange
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Books From Taiwan (BFT), an initiative funded by TAICCA to promote right exchange of Taiwanese publications. To date, BFT has sold 348 international book rights to 37 countries in 29 languages. On October 17th, a BFT event organized by TAICCA was held in Frankfurt, inviting publishers home and abroad to celebrate together; the “TiBE buyer” program will be available as part of the cordial invitation to international publishing professionals to join the 2024 Taipei International Book Exhibition.
During the book fair, the Taiwan Pavilion hosts two international right matchmaking events. The first one targets publishers from the Netherlands, the Guest of Honor Country for the 2024 Taipei International Book Exhibition, while the other focuses on Portuguese publishers, who possess great experience in working with their Taiwanese counterparts in illustration and children's books.