A nice tradition within the Frankfurt Book Fair will take place again in 2019. When the Frankfurt Book Fair opens its doors on 15 October, a large number of Frankfurt's cultural institutions and the city's cultural office will also take this as an opportunity to put on a diverse supporting programme. This naturally includes Open Books, the City of Frankfurt's big reading festival for the Book Fair, which takes place from 15 to 19 October: This year, over 150 events are planned with around 250 authors from Germany and around the world, including Jakob Augstein, Isabel Bogdan, Rebecca Gablé, Joachim Gauck, Maja Lunde, Marina and Herfried Münkler, Luisa Neubauer, Sascha Lobo and Sarah Wagenknecht.
As always, the reading festival will take place at venues around the Römer and this year also in the Old Town. Here, the most important new publications of the autumn in the field of German-language fiction and poetry, non-fiction, graphic novels and international literature - especially the guest country Norway - as well as children's books will be presented.
"Today, the municipal reading festival Open Books is considered a nationally recognized cultural brand. Since 2009, Sonja Vandenrath and her team of organizers have succeeded every year in bringing a wide variety of literary genres to life in many different ways. The book presentations and readings, exhibitions or performances offered in Frankfurt's urban space create a unique opportunity for authors and readers to meet and exchange ideas, from which the publishers also clearly benefit," says Head of the Department of Culture Ina Hartwig.
94 publishing houses from Germany, Austria and Switzerland take the opportunity to present the novelties of their autumn programme at Open Books. In addition to events on German-language fiction, new non-fiction and graphic novels, there will be readings by international authors with a special focus on this year's guest country, Norway. At the opening of Open Books 2019, Joachim Gauck, Felicitas Hoppe, David Wagner and the winner of the German Book Prize, who was announced the day before, will present their latest books on the Blue Sofa in the German National Library. At Literatur im Römer in the Römerhallen, the focus is on the most important German-language novels of the autumn: on the Wednesday and Thursday of the fair, eight authors will each present their latest works in a short moderated discussion. The reading festival will conclude with a big party in the Literaturhaus Frankfurt, in keeping with tradition. With a few exceptions (opening, part of the movement and the closing party), admission to all readings is free.
Open Books director Sonja Vandenrath says: "Open Books, that is also in 2019 the reading festival in the heart of the city. In this we remain true to ourselves and yet have grown. Thanks to the new Old Town, we are gaining a beautiful neighbourhood that meets the growing need for spaces. Spaces reminiscent of the 18th century, when the reading frenzy was proverbial. In that spirit, we too would like to see a return of the convivial culture of reading as an expression of a broad enthusiasm for books."
At the Book Fair and in the city, the Guest of Honour will present Norwegian literature and culture in all its diversity in cooperation with numerous Frankfurt cultural institutions. In addition to readings, there will also be exhibitions, concerts, performances, theatre shows and film screenings.
"The city of Frankfurt, its museums and cultural institutions have welcomed us with open arms, so there are now numerous opportunities to get to know Norwegian art and literature. The same goes for the German-language publishers: over 190 of them are presenting books from or about Norway in their programmes. For us, this is a dream˝, says Halldór Guðmundsson, project manager of the Norwegian Guest of Honour.
So the Museum Angewandte Kunst will transform into the House of Norway from 11. October to January 26, 2020, and will showcase positions from Norway's art and culture, design, crafts and architecture across its entire exhibition space.
The show "Ethereal. Photographic Art from Norway" at Fotografie Forum Frankfurt is dedicated to the work of Dag Alveng, AK Dolven and Linn Pedersen (Thursday, October 3 to January 12, 2020), while the Deutsches Architekturmuseum's exhibition "In Norwegian Landscapes. Hunting high and low" explores the peculiarities of Norway's architectural tradition and presents recent projects from different geographical parts of the country, often reflecting on the relationship between buildings and landscape (September 14, 2019 to January 19, 2020).
Extraordinary monumental tapestries by Hannah Ryggen will be on view at the Schirn Kunsthalle from September 26, 2019 to January 12, 2020. For the first time in Germany, the large solo exhibition presents the public with a comprehensive insight into the monumental, politically inspired work of the Norwegian-Swedish artist.
With the exhibition "Eaten Fish," the Haus am Dom invites visitors to engage with drawings by Ali Dorani from October 2 to 30. The cartoonist, who lives in Norway, documents his stay as a refugee in an Australian refugee camp for several years. In AusstellungsHalle 1A, artist Monika Hansebakken, formerly based at Atelierfrankfurt, will exhibit a cross-section of her work at the invitation of the Kulturamt Frankfurt (17 October - 3 November 2019). Her work combines painting with sculptural elements and deals with the beauty of the Norwegian landscape as well as the endangerment of nature.
At the Norsk Festival at the Mousonturm from 15 to 19 October, some of the most important personalities of the Norwegian music scene will make themselves known. The extensive festival programme includes concerts and a club night, as well as performances, readings, poetry slams and talks. Rock, pop, electro, jazz and folk - making for an impressive cross-section of Nordic soundscapes.
Norwegian filmmaking will be highlighted in October at the German Film Institute & Film Museum (DFF), among other venues, from the silent era to the present day. In September, there will be a retrospective of all seven feature films by the internationally renowned director Bent Hamer.
But of course, Norwegian literature in particular moves the whole of Frankfurt: an overview of the literary history of Norway will be provided by Oliver Møystad's introduction at the LiteraturLounge in the Haus am Dom (13. October 2019, 11 a.m.), and the Literaturbahnhof at the Haus des Buches will introduce two Norwegian writers and their new publications for an hour each day (October 16-19, 2019). The Literaturhaus will be hosting Jostein Gaarder at Schauspiel Frankfurt (17 October 2019, 6pm), and Jan Erik Vold, Lotta Elstad and Lars Saabye-Christensen will be presenting their new releases at the Romanfabrik (16 October 2019, 8pm). Synnøve Persen, Niillas Holmberg, Inga Ravna Eira and Dirk Hülstrunk will talk about New Sami Poetry between Tradition and Modernity on 17 October 2019 at the Central Library (7.30 pm), and a Long Night of Norwegian Literature will be hosted by the Hessisches Literaturforum at the Mousonturm (18 October 2019, 7.30 pm).
The Schauspiel Frankfurt is staging "Brand" by Henrik Ibsen in a new translation (premiere: 12 October 2019), "Wieder da" by contemporary playwright Fredrik Brattberg will receive its German premiere in September 2019. In addition, two guest performances can be experienced at the Städtische Bühnen: the Nationaltheatret Oslo is staging "Nordic Army Ride" by Henrik Ibsen (16./17 October 2019), and the Norske Teatret performs Jon Fosse's award-winning "Trilogy" in a production by Luk Perceval (23/24 October 2019).
The entire supporting programme can be found in the Frankfurt Book Fair events calendar HERE
