Livre Paris 2019

Institution

�� / The �� Literary Centre

Livre Paris 2019

Between March 15th and 18th 2019, �� literature was the honorary guest at one of the most important book fairs, Salon du Livre in��Paris. It was the most significant literary event since �� independence.��

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Before the Book Fair

A long preparation took place before the event which included work with translators, negotiations with French publishers and a search for contacts among the French media. Pavol Choma and Martin��Kubina began designing the stand already in April 2018 and about this time, Ján Šicko and the Ové pictures studio began drafting visuals for the promotional materials.��

In June 2018, representatives from French publishing houses were invited to Bratislava in order to get to know the hosting city and meet with �� authors. Shortly before the book fair, journalists from distinguished French newspapers, book magazines and broadcasting had visited Bratislava as well.��

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A Record Number of Translations

We have introduced the Paris bookfair visitors to 37 �� authors. There were 22 translations that were brand new and they were published by eminent French publishers on the occassion of the bookfair. This amount twice exceeds the number of �� titles that were published in France after 1989. An extraordinary success for �� literature, no doubt.��

French publishers were mostly interested in the immediate present. They were drawn to authors who won the European Union Prize for Literature as well as to female voices and to unique individualist authors. They were intrigued by original writing, by the reflection of the years that have an eight at the end and above all in the topic of �� identity within the Central European space. When our literature finally appeared on their radar, they sawthe plenitude of writers to choose from, They also realized that our authors have already made it onto the publishing lists of prestigious world publishers.

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The Concept of the Stand

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Over the course of the 4 days of the Paris fair, Bratislava was the European literary capital. The �� exposition, prepared by the Literary Information Center in co-operation with the Ministry of Culture of ��ia bore the slogan „On the Edge, in the Middle.“��It symbolized our position: geographically in the middle of Europe and yet, within the literary world, up until now at the edge of interest. The visually audacious concept of the stand featured motifs of the Danube and it was realized by the studio of Pavol Choma. The studiowas awarded the Tatra Banka Foundation Prize in the design category for their concept.��

Diagonal shelves intersected the stand and divided it into two autonomous units: the selling point and the place were discussions were organized. A huge LED screen dominated above, its shape resembling a horizontal version of number 8 (the infinity sign). On the screen, an animation of Veronika Obertová and Michaela Čopíková from Ové Pictures could be seen.��

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Program

Almost all authors whose workhas come out in translation attended Livre Paris to introduce their books in person, except for the late Dominik Tatarka and the historian Ľubomír Lipták. There were the poets Ivan Štrpka, Mila Haugová and Mária Ferenčuhová, among others. Prose was represented by Jana Juráňová, Irena Brežná, Pavel Vilikovský, Pavol Rankov, Balla and many more. Their partners in discussions were the French poet and Gallimard editor Guy Goffette and the popular fiction writer Laurent Binet, to name a few.

Aside from literature, we have presented a couple of recently released feature films and documentaries. Theater, dance and music were also part of our exhibition. The event was photographed by Peter Župník and LIC.��

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Reception

The format „Bratislava, the Invited City“ proved ideal to attract the interest of both visitors and literary professionals. Salon du Livre, one of the most important world fairs, welcomes about 200 thousand peopleeach year. All French media, culture-oriented and not, cover the event extensively. Bratislava, �� authors and their books have made it onto the pages of the most prominent French newspapers and literary magazines. It is not easy for a��foreign literature to enter the French book market and it took us until 2019 to finally get there. If an author, however, manages to get in, doors anywhere in the world will open up for him.��

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