A panel themed “Challenges on the road to international affirmation of literature in ‘small languages’” is held Saturday within Frankfurt Book Fair organised by Association of Macedonian Publishers.
Representatives of the Slovenian Book Agency, including one of our most translated authors Lidija Dimkovska, Stefano Bisacchi, literary agent and owner of the Tempi Irregolari Agency, the vice-president of the Georgian Publishers Association, Gvantsa Jobava, Katja Stergar of the Slovenian Book Agency and Darko Fidanoski of Association of Macedonian Publishers attended the event.
Participants at the panel said that the key strategy for successful promotion is a national strategy adopted at a political level, involving all stakeholders - publishers, authors, agents and translators.
Gvantsa Jobava of Georgia, whose country next year will be an honorary guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair, said that the event is a great opportunity for overall promotion of the country.
We are a small country, but knowing the possibilities of this fair we have proven that we can speak out loud about our potentials that the world does not know. This is a great promotion not only of our culture, but also of tourism, and economy, Jobava said.
Katja Stergar of the Slovenian Book Agency underlined that all involved individuals must realize that things do not happen by themselves and that everyone involved must work hard on promoting their own literature. Authors, agents and publishers at this kind of fairs have to come well prepared, with books translated into a foreign language, so they can be successfully presented, she emphasised.
Stefano Bisacchi, literary agent representing Macedonian authors said that it is very difficult to penetrate into foreign markets; it takes a lot of work and persistence, however good translation plays a great role. Macedonian writer Lidija Dimkovska considered that good translators are the second authors of the works, adding that awards, agents and personal contacts open the paths of domestic authors on the international stage.
Darko Fidanoski of the Association of Macedonian Publishers emphasized that the presence of such fairs also contributes to the promotion of the publishers, but also to the Macedonian literature.
Culture Minister Robert Alagjozovski, who also attended the event, stressed that the exchange of experiences at such fairs gives good direction on how to better present ourselves to the international scene, adding that it is necessary to establish book agency and to unite all the experiences and publishers that represented the country at previous fairs to jointly conduct action to better promote ourselves.
More than 400 literary works from over 250 Macedonian authors, including 70 titles by authors translated into European languages are exhibited at the Frankfurt Book Fair, from 11 to 15 October.
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world's largest trade fair for books, based both on the number of publishing companies represented, and the number of visitors. More than 7,300 exhibitors from over 100 countries; around 275,000 visitors and over 10,000 journalists and bloggers are taking part this year.
