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The Netherlands and Flanders will join together in a collective presentation as Guests of Honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2016.
The Dutch and Flemish ministers of culture, Jet Bussemaker and Joke Schauvliege, signed the contract with Juergen Boos, director of the Frankfurt Book Fair in Antwerp today (Monday 17th March).
Boos said: “I find the new theme of the dual presentation very fascinating. It highlights issues that affect all the players of the book industry, in every country and every region of the world. I believe it is worthwhile supporting the convergence with other creative industries, and efforts to exploit the potential this creates.”
The Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Flemish Literature Fund will together perform the practical work of organising the Guest of Honour presentation. They will be assisted in this by Dutch and Flemish public institutions, the publishing sector and relevant industry associations and cultural foundations. They will also offer professional and comprehensive support to international publishers for the translation and publication of literature written in Dutch and Flemish.
While the primary focus will be on literature, the Guest of Honour presentation will also feature new genres, new forms of book publication and other artistic disciplines. In today’s rapidly changing book industry, the two literature foundations want to play a part in shaping the convergence between the role of book publishers and that of the other creative industries, and to provide a stimulus for new partnerships.
The Guest of Honour at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair is Finland, followed by Indonesia in 2015.
It was recently announced that Georgia will be the Guest of Honour at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair.