Abu Dhabi has been filled these days with congressmen visiting the book fair, a point of reference in the Gulf countries and which aspires to be one day in the rest of the world. For this reason, its director, Saeed Hamdan Al-Tunaiji, confesses that he has “Frankfurt as a reference”.
Aware of this, its top representative, Juergen Boos, has traveled one more year to the capital of the United Arab Emirates and has advanced to La Vanguardia that the program for this year of the Frankfurter Buchmesse, the largest book fair of the world, which will celebrate the 76th edition from October 16 to 20, will be “very political, it has to be; we cannot ignore everything that is happening in the world right now”.
Boos says that “we are working hard right now and debating the possible groups and talks that will take place, many of which focus on democracy”.
He does not rule out that the meeting will once again be the focus of controversy, since “it is something that has happened since historical times, and it is normal. It was already seen when China was the guest of honor or, years later, when Catalan literature was the protagonist and the idea of ??nationalism was reflected upon. In both cases there were demonstrations and protests of all kinds. A book fair is political or it isn’t. When society becomes more complicated, this is reflected in books and, following logic, in its fairs.”
The last edition was a good example, as it took place days after the Hamas attack on Israel, on October 7. It all started with the intervention of the Slovenian philosopher Slavoj Zizek, a citizen of the country’s guest of honor, who caused irritation at the opening ceremony with a speech centered on a criticism of Israel’s policy: “Don’t applaud now, wait for what I will say, maybe no one will applaud afterwards”. “I want it to be clear – he continued -: I condemn the attacks by Hamas without mitigating factors and I give Israel the right to defend itself”.
The intellectual explored the origins of terror and said that, just as power corrupts, “persecution also corrupts its victims.” Words that provoked shouts from the public, who accused the speaker of relativizing terrorism and comparing the Israeli Government to Hamas.
It was not the only controversy that caused headlines, as the delivery of the LiBeraturpreis award to the Palestinian author Adania Xibli was also postponed during the fair. The association Litprom, which promotes foreign authors in the German language and grants this award, announced that the writer would not receive hers, as initially planned, which, in addition to protests, led to the boycott by part of various publishing groups and that some countries, such as Malaysia, decided not to attend the meeting, citing “the pro-Israel attitude and the organizers’ open support for Israel”.
Boos now looks at these events with perspective, but is convinced that “it is likely” that the organization would act the same way again, since “it was done for a security issue”. “We always think of Frankfurt as a safe harbor. But people from 140 countries come and they all bring their stories. It would be strange if they didn’t collide at some point. And that’s fine, but we have to ensure everyone’s safety. It is one of our main priorities”.
The German editor acknowledges that he does not know whether the prize was finally awarded to Xibli later or not. “I should know what exactly is going on with Adania. They should have given it to her this spring, but it seems that it is difficult to communicate with her.”
In an article published on January 31 in Eldiario.es, the author of Un detalle menor explained her position following the cancellation: “I think that if Litprom continues to want to award my novel with the prize , perhaps postal mail is a good option. They can send it by certified mail, and I can do a little ceremony with the old postman who usually brings to my door every package or large shipment that needs a signature.”
In that same text, the author clarified: “It is false that my novel propagates violence against Israelis.”
Boos insists that the one in Frankfurt is not the only exhibition that becomes a thermometer of ideas. ” It happens in all of them, in a more or less visible way. In London, in Paris and in other smaller ones like Turin. Also in Abu Dhabi, even if not everything is visible to the naked eye. As I said, what happens to us beats in the books, and one more proof is the winner of this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF)”, popularly known as the Arab Booker, awarded to Basim Khandaqji, a Palestinian author imprisoned in Israel since 2004 and accused of terrorism.
“It is the first time in the history of the award that a novel written behind the walls of an Israeli prison reaches readers on the other side,” said Iassir Suleiman, president of the award’s board of directors. Boos does not comment on the awardee, but understands the nomination: “It would not make sense to ignore what worries the world at every moment. In other words, it’s good that we talk about it”, concludes the director of Frankfurt.
