After an involuntary expansion, Canada, the Guest of Honor bid farewell to the Frankfurt Book Fair. Along with Spain, a host country is in the starting block for 2022 that will be looking to score points with its brilliant creativity.
The transfer of the guest role marks the traditional closing of the Frankfurt Book Fair – this year from Canada to Spain as the guest of honour. And as always, the two teams were sitting in very different emotional states at the Frankfurt Fest on Sunday.
On the one hand the Canadian delegation, which would have been much larger than the current situation in the event of a non-pandemic. For many years, there was Canadian participation in the book fair. No one could have suspected that it would now be a guest of honor who had been unknowingly sent for an extension.
“In the end it was complicated again and it is unusual that we succeeded,” said Carolyn Fortin, president of Canada FBM2021.
Spain promises great creativity
While some people are packing their bags, the Spanish delegation is about to leave. “We will start tomorrow,” said María José Gávez, general director for the Promotion of Books and Reading at the Ministry of Culture and Sports. The year long programs will start soon. And what can guests expect in 2022?
The guest of honor in 2022 should be “dazzlingly creative”, as the Spanish delegation already promised at a press conference on Thursday. “Shiny and bubbly, it’s something you can’t hold, something that just pops out. So creative, so strong you can’t hold something — we want to show that,” Gávez said at the farewell ceremony and handover . Guest appearance on Sunday.
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The guest appearance, an art object created specifically for the guest of honor, is expanded each year to include literary contributions from the latter’s guest country. Spain enrolls in the role, with contributions from several authors. “We decided to write the sentences of some of the authors, Ana María Matute and others, when they received the Cervantes Prize in Spain,” Gávez said.
“We chose these sentences because they speak about books, about language, about words, about love of books and creativity.” The 73rd Frankfurt Book Fair concluded with this message and the vibrant sounds of Spanish brass.