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Bomb hoax impacts Paris Book Fair

20.03.08 Barbara Casassus

Visitors to the six-day Paris Book Fair, which closed on Wednesday 19th March, fell by 8% to 165,300 from 186,000 last year. Weighing on the result was a bomb hoax on the Sunday, which meant the fair had to be cleared and many visitors did not return, according to Serge Eyrolles, president of the French Publishers Association, which organises the event.

The presence of Israeli literature as the guest of honour also sparked a furore in parts of the Arab
world, and led to a boycott by several countries, although visitors were undeterred from buying Hebrew and French books by Israeli authors. Gibert Joseph, which runs the stand for books from the invited countries, reported record breaking sales of 21,000 to 22,000 copies this year, compared to 17,000 for India in 2007 and about 20,000 for Russia in 2006.

The number of school children attending the fair jumped by 14% to 11,500.

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