New Zealand was the Guest of Honour at the prestigious 2012 Frankfurt Book Fair which ran from 10-14 October.
The New Zealand pavilion has broken all previous Guest of Honour attendance records at the Frankfurt Book Fair with more than 90,000 people visiting the pavilion over the weekend when the fair was opened to the public.
All of the Frankfurt Book Fair writer sessions held in the New Zealand Pavilion are now available on our Youtube channel at http://www.youtube.com/user/NZatFrankfurt. Features speakers from Weta Workshop, Māori storytelling, cooks, comics to writers discussing working life in the aftermath of the devastating Christchurch earthquakes.
YouTube clip featuring highlights from the Frankfurt Book Fair.
YouTube clip of the New Zealand Pavilion at Frankfurt.
YouTube clip providing an overview of the Frankfurt Book Fair.
YouTube clip introducing New Zealand's Guest of Honour role in 2012.
The Guest of Honour country showcases its culture in a year-long programme throughout Germany, culminating in the Frankfurt Book Fair. New Zealand exhibited 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 2011 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 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 NZ at Frankfurt facebook page.
