New Zealand will be the Guest of Honour at the prestigious 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the biggest book and media trade fair in the world – with around 7,500 exhibitors from over 110 countries and nearly 300,000 visitors yearly. It is also the world’s oldest publishing event and takes place over five busy days of international book trading.

Guest of Honour launch introduced by Project Director Tanea Heke

Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the New Zealand Prime Minister, talks about New Zealand and German scientific collaboration

Sir Peter Jackson talks about New Zealand creativity

The Guest of Honour country showcases its culture in a year-long programme throughout Germany, culminating in the Frankfurt Book Fair. New Zealand will exhibit its premier arts, creative industries and stories to new audiences and businesses. A hand-over ceremony from the current Guest of Honour, Iceland was held on Sunday 16 October in Frankfurt.

Minister for Arts, Culture and Heritage Christopher Finlayson announced New Zealand’s selection as Guest of Honour country with German Foreign Minister, Dr Guido Westerwelle at a media conference held at the Auckland Museum on 2 June 2011. The contract was signed between Lewis Holden, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage Chief Executive and Juergen Boos, the Director of the Frankfurt Book Fair.

New Zealand publishers have attended the Frankfurt Book Fair for more than 10 years.  The Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ) coordinates a combined New Zealand stand for up to twenty publishers.  In addition, a number of other New Zealand publishers participate independently.

The fair is held annually in the second week of October and runs over five days – three days for trade and two for the public. The fair features:

• over 110 attending countries
• almost 300,000 visitors
• 180,000 international trade visitors
• 100,000 buyers
• 10,000 international journalists from 63 countries
• over 5000 media reports in Germany and internationally: all German TV, radio stations, newspapers, related magazines, and online portals cover the event.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is increasingly extending its focus beyond books to digital media and the range of businesses contributing to that industry, the film industry, the gourmet industry, science, technology and medicine. It also features education, the promotion of literacy, books in translation, international culture and politics, audio books, children's books, comics, maps, and other aspects of the book trade.

Creative New Zealand has made a significant contribution to support New Zealand's Frankfurt Book Fair Guest of Honour literary, arts and cultural programme in 2012. Information about Creative New Zealand is available on their website.

Related websites

Visit the NZ at Frankfurt website for more details about New Zealand's role as the Guest of Honour for 2012.

View audio clips from the NZ at Frankfurt YouTube page.

Follow us on the New Zealand at Frankfurt facebook page.