Taiwan shines at 2022 Frankfurt Book Fair
Taiwan is flexing its publishing and illustrating muscles at Frankfurt Book Fair, the largest event of its kind and a leading platform for international rights sales, according to Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) Oct. 20.
Themed “Taiwan Story Salon,” the Taiwan Pavilion at the fair kicked off Oct. 19, showcasing 451 publications by 92 local publishers, TAICCA said. The pavilion is divided into Asian, Comic and The Arts+ displays, the agency added.
The Asian category includes women’s power-themed books, award-winning titles, recently published novels and nonfiction publications on Taiwan’s local culture, while the Comic section displays comic books and graphic novels with high potential to be translated for foreign markets, and The Arts+ section shows popular interdisciplinary intellectual property works such as TV adaptations of novels.
According to TAICCA Chief Executive Officer Izero Lee, Taiwan’s authors and publishers enjoy a free and open creative environment, which has contributed greatly to the country’s success in the global book market. The agency is committed to further promoting Taiwan stories in the international arena while encouraging more translations of the country’s literary works, he added.
In addition, Head of Taipei Representative Office in the Federal Republic of Germany Shieh Jhy-wey likened the bond between writers and readers to the solidarity between Taiwan and Ukraine during the pavilion’s opening ceremony.
His remarks were followed by an invitation from the Ukraine Pavilion to Rex How, founder and chair of Taipei City-based Locus Publishing, to meet with the representative from Ukraine’s Yakaboo Publishing to discuss future partnerships and cooperation.
High-profile events Taiwan participants are set to take part in include a publishing perspectives forum in which Taipei City-headquartered Slowork Publishing’s Chief Editor Huang Pei-Shan will share the country’s independent publishing outlook with counterparts from Germany, Lithuania and the U.K. and a round table on the development of international book fairs attended by How, Frankfurt Book Fair President and CEO Juergen Boos and CEOs of other global book fairs.