Book World Prague 2022 will focus on the mission to live for books
“We live for books and it’s a sweet mission in a world in declining and troubled mess.” The organizers chose this quote from Umberto Ec as the motto for the upcoming 27th International Book Fair and Literary Festival Book World Prague. At the same time, the words of the important author express the long-term mission of the event. From 9 to 12 June, visitors will again find an imaginary literary anchor at the Prague Exhibition Grounds. In 2022, Book World Prague will present the homeland of Umberto Ec – Italy – as a guest of honor. He will once again give space to Literature as the voice of freedom, to well-known Czech and world authors and to a program aimed at gaining small readers.
The fair measures its mission with a quote from the Italian novelist, philosophy and semiotics of the international girl Umberto Ec, who chose his motto this year. “To satisfy the famous writer’s quote, we dedicate this year to everyone who lives for books, be they authors, translators, publishers, booksellers, librarians and many others. Because we live for books. And we live for those who live for books, “adds Guillaume Basset, the playwright of the Prague Book World.
The Italian program will focus mainly on contemporary authors, the main books have been published in Czech translation in recent years. Italy becomes the guest of honor in a year commemorating 100 years since the founding of the Italian Cultural Institute in Prague, the oldest of all 83 current Italian cultural institutes in the world. “Italy is a country of greats of world literature, such as Ovid, Dante, Niccolò Machiavelli, Curzio Malaparte and Umberto Eco. And it remains such a cradle today. The diversity and richness of Italian literary work is an excellent example of world-famous literature, “added the fair’s playwright Guillaume Basset.
Book World Prague will continue in the program Literature as a Voice of Freedom in 2022. Following the tradition of dissident literature in the former Czechoslovakia, the festival in this section of the public stands offers authors fighting for freedom. Asylum and support can be used here for all kinds of freedom, from political dissidents to unorthodox thinkers, from fighters for gender equality to controversial writers. Literature as a voice of freedom was foreshadowed in 2019 by a discussion of the same name by two nobelists: Herty Müller and Maria Vargas Llosa. Two years later, in the first contribution of the program, the festival turned its attention to Belarus. Also this year, a number of countries are planned to visit, where freedom of speech is not a common concept and the functioning of society is not based on democratic principles.
The Book World Prague fair also belongs to children – workshops and discussions try not to forget to read in the age of tablets and mobile phones. He is preparing meetings with a number of authors and illustrators, entertaining immature visitors with the theater and various workshops, and I am thinking of educational programs. The Growing with a Book pavilion is especially dedicated to young readers. It was named after the campaign of the same name, organized by the Book World company.
Those interested will enter the Book World Prague 2022 again at the Prague Exhibition Grounds in Holešovice, but from the reconstruction of the Industrial Palace in the new premises. “Visitors will enter the complex through the gate under the Marold panorama. Here a new piazzetta will be created, the heart of the whole event. A long hall will be built on the left on the so-called Brussels Road and the visitor will be able to go to Křižík’s pavilions. The program halls will be mainly in tents, which will ‘inhabit’ the area even more. The whole concept is prepared to work in case of cold and rainy weather as well as in case of rather expected summer weather, “describes the book’s director Radovan Auer.
Last year, after a one-year break, 34,000 people found their way to the fair to offer 288 exhibitors and participate in 481 programs. “Our dream goal is to approach the last pre-pandemic record year this year, when we welcomed more than 50,000 readers. We adapt the quality and scope of the program and exhibitions to this, ”concludes Auer.