Georgian fiction promoted at Frankfurt Book Fair 2018

Georgia had been invited to feature as a guest country at the biggest book and media fair in the world – the Frankfurt Book Fair.

In 2018, Georgia will feature alongside 7500 exhibitions from more than 110 countries.

The document confirming Georgia’s attendance at the international event was signed by Georgia’s Minister of Culture and Monument Protection Guram Odisharia and Frankfurt Book Fair director Juergen Boss at the Embassy of Georgia in Berlin today.

The Ministry’s press service said Georgia’s participation as an honored guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair was an important springboard for Georgian culture, literature and the country’s image. This event would benefit Georgian writers, publishers, translators and people employed in the field of art, the statement said.

Meanwhile, Georgian culture will be promoted all year in Germany through exhibitions, concerts, performances and more.

The Ministry said the various events would portray "a whole range of Georgian culture – from folklore to culinary offerings”.

By promoting Georgia this way, it contributed to Georgia’s integration in the Euro-Atlantic space through culture. This also increased awareness about Georgia to the world, which in turn, would raise the interest of tourist and investors to the country, the press centre said.

Georgia has been negotiating to attend the Frankfurt Book Fair since 2011. The festival's director Juergen Boss and vice president Tobias Vos visited Georgia in 2013 and held meetings with high officials, including Minister of Culture Guram Odisharia and former Prime Minister Bidzina Ivanishvili.

In 2014, Georgia’s Ministry of Culture planned to increase the budget of the Literature Program and established a special centre aimed to increase popularity of Georgian culture throughout the world, the statement said.

The centre would be created in a flexible way with a "decentralized structure” to allow promotion of Georgian arts. The centre will be managed by a special board, who will develop a plan to promote Georgian fiction to be translated into foreign languages. The board will focus on measureable and qualitative results of the number of Georgian works translated in the next three to four years, the Ministry statement said.