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New Zealand is to be the guest of honour at next year’s Frankfurt Book Fair.
In Auckland today, director of FBF Juergen Boos signed the deal with the chief executive of New Zealand’s Ministry for Culture and Heritage, Lewis Holden.
Boos said: "New Zealand offers a profoundly intense cultural experience. The multicultural identity of New Zealand has been built upon inspirational stories, through both its oral tradition and in writing, as well as in songs and films. We are looking forward to exploring this creativity and presenting it to a broad international audience."
New Zealand minister of arts, Christopher Finlayson, also present, added: "The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world’s most prestigious and well attended international publishing event . . . As the guest of honour, New Zealand will significantly raise its profile not only in Germany, but also with over 110 exhibiting countries and the hundreds of thousands of visitors attending the fair."
Organisers cited New Zealand’s "vibrant and colourful" cultural and literary identity, including the oral tradition of the Polynesian tribes and its history as a destination for emigrant settlers, as well as its time as a colony of the British empire.
Famous NZ writers include Katherine Mansfield, Michael King and Janet Frame while Witi Ihimaera is considered the most famous Maori writer, according to the organisers.
The Publishers Association of New Zealand includes around 80 publishers, generating approximately €550m in annual sales.
Frankfurt Book Fair 2012 runs from 10th-14th October. Iceland is the guest of honour at this year’s fair, running from 12th-16th October 2011.