The Bookseller.com

20th November 2008

« Headlines

Boos speaks out over Frankfurt controversy

11.03.08

Frankfurt Book Fair President Juergen Boos has explained that Nokia's decision to close a manufacturing plant in Germany had "no impact on the choice" of the fair's 2011 guest of honour country, reports Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat.

The revelation that Iceland had been chosen over Finland as the 2011 guest of honour was accompanied by suggestions that the decision had been influenced by the mobile phone company's decision to close the plant and the ensuing anti-Finnish sentiment in Germany.

However, Boos told the newspaper: "The situation was that here were two good applicants. The decision to choose Iceland is not a decision against Finland."

He admitted that he had talked to Iris Schwank of the Finnish Literature Exchange about the closure of the Nokia plant, and about the public outcry and anti-Nokia sentient, but that his comments were misunderstood and had nothing to do with the selection process.

According to Boos, the process of choosing a guest of honour for 2011 was exceptionally difficult, with the selection panel split into two camps.

"The two countries are very even in many respects. In both cases the book branch has strong links to Germany, and books from both Iceland and Finland are translated in German. In practice, I had to take the final decision by myself", said Boos.

The eventual decision had much to do with the fact that the Icelanders had been lobbying for the accolade for more than a decade. He regards it as awkward and embarrassing that the whole issue has since been given a political dimension by the media.

"The discussion that is now going on from the nationalist perspective does nobody any good. The primary purpose of the Book Fair is to bring together the media branch, booksellers, and publishers, and a second major consideration is to promote culture. Culture is always political to some extent, but to associate this choice with a separate event in the economic sphere is quite absurd."

Helsingin Sanomat

Frankfurt Book Fair Juergen Boos Global