In the cafeteria of the LitAG, the area of ??the Frankfurt Fair where literary agents and scouts from all over the world gather to buy and sell rights to new titles, you hear much more than new stories. The armed conflict between Israel and Hamas has strongly overturned the world book fair par excellence after its director, Jürgen Boos, took a position saying that the fair is “completely in solidarity with Israel”. Hours after the statement was made public, the program was reorganized to give a predominant place to Jewish voices.
“Malaysia I think is gone too”, whispers an agent to his teammate as he finishes his sandwich at the speed of light, since free time is an added value these days. His companion nods and answers: “And also publishing groups in Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. That the quintessential book event cancels an author simply because she is Palestinian is thought provoking”. It refers to Adania Shibli, the writer who was supposed to receive the LiBeraturpreis award today in a ceremony that has finally been cancelled, as announced by the association Litprom, in charge of presenting the award.
“We were hoping that he would take a step back, but in the end it hasn’t been like that. And I’m surprised”, reflects Claudia Calva, from the literary agency Antonia Kerrigan, who explains that “we work with another agent for the Arab world who canceled her participation at the last minute. She wrote to all her contacts to say she couldn’t come to a place where they wouldn’t let a Palestinian author collect her award. It’s the first time he’s missed in twenty years. I think this should be a neutral event.”
You only have to take a look at the newspaper archives to see that this is not the case. In the 75 years of the fair’s life – an anniversary that is talked about less than would be appropriate for this whole matter – there have been several times when politics has crept into the pavilions. “Sometimes more generically and in terms of awareness, such as the Iraq war. Others, with more explicit tensions, “like when China was the guest of honor in 2009” and several publishing houses, and even the fair itself with an act, “brought exiles, emigrants and dissidents”, recalls the ‘literary agent, producer and screenwriter Anna Soler-Pont, from Pontas Agency, who has been present at this literary event since 1992.
Nor does he forget “the banners and yellow ribbons that arrived in these halls in 2017”, due to the Catalan process and the reprisals of the referendum on October 1 of that year, or ten editions before, “when Catalan culture was the main protagonist” and Boos himself, already then director, criticized the absence of Spanish-language authors in the program.
“Since it was founded, it has always been more than just a business fair. It is a thermometer of what is happening in the world and a speaker of ideas. And that’s fine, since literature also benefits from this. What is happening is that there should be no positions and less senior positions”, Soler-Pont regrets.
In addition to political ideas, the site is also a thermometer of trends that are breaking out with force, such as artificial intelligence and audio books and sound dramatizations. Also what is being read and what will be read. In fact, this is one of the main functions of the meeting. The posters, which until recently illustrated almost exclusively on the stands covers of Nordic noir novels, now also show some covers of carefree romantic stories that “have lived apart for a long time and that since last year they have gained ground. This year, with particular force”, points out Calva.
Elena Ramírez, editorial director of Seix Barral and international fiction of Grup Planeta, agrees. “We are seeing a lot of romance in the commercial part, with fantasy and dark academia. High school stories are very popular. Also historical, which had not been seen for a long time, as well as a spectacular display of the type of books for young adults, what we call young adults. And this is because they are potentially mobile on TikTok, either because they leave this network in other countries or because they can end up there. All editors are looking for their Colleen Hoover and Rebecca Yarros”.
Aware of this, the fair has many presentations dedicated to social networks and resources to capture the attention of younger readers. Marketing expert Lisa Pankewitz recalled in a masterclass created by the organizers prior to the fair that “they are the future of the industry. We should be interested in your opinion”.