ungary
will be the guest of honour at the 1999 Frankfurt Book Fair from 13th-17th
October 1999. Hungary’s participation at this grand event shall
open a series of international events to commemorate the first millennium
of Hungarian statehood and to project Hungary’s ambitions to join
the European Union on the threshold of the 21st century.
The Frankfurt Book Fair is the summit meeting for the international book and electronic publishing profession. As next year’s guest of honour, Hungary shall enjoy the privilege to bring her history, cultural heritage and the leading Hungarian cultural personalities and institutions closer to the world. In the heart of the 1999 Frankfurt Book Fair on a 1800 square metre national pavilion Hungary shall exhibit several thousand literary and scientific books, CD-ROMs and present a number of cultural events across Germany. The very best of Hungarian literature, theatre, creative arts, music, dance and film will be on display.
At this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair Hungary shall already be preparing for its special status in 1999: the award-winning Hungarian butterfly-logo (designed by László Zsótér) shall be presented together with the slogan “Hungary- without boundaries”. This year the Hungarian pavilion has been created in a joint project with the Hungarian Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and ITDH Hungary. The 300 sqm Hungarian pavilion has been furnished and installed by the Interreklám Holding Ltd. The Frankfurt’99 Non-profit Organisation has provided 45 Hungarian publishing houses free access to the Book Fair. In addition, a further 16 Hungarian publishing houses were also presented at the compactly structured Hungarian stand.
Hungarian writers, books, events in the 1999 Frankfurt Book Fair- a short overview
There has been three rounds of open tender to invite Hungarian and foreign authors and translators to publish books at the 1999 Frankfurt Book Fair. The results of the first two rounds have already appeared in the press, while the deadline for the third round was closed on 26th October 1998.
Among the guests of the 1999 Frankfurt Book Fair will be the legendary György Faludy and Éva Haldimann, who over 30 years have been reviewing Hungarian literature for Neue Zürcher Zeitung. Over 100 Hungarian writers shall present themselves and their books (many of which has been written in foreign languages) to the audience of next year’s Book Fair. Győző Határ, Magda Szabó, András Sütő, Ferenc Juhász, Miklós Hubay are just a few examples to quote. A number of literary recitals and translators’ seminars shall also be organised by Hungary.
A number of Hungarian books shall appear for this special occasion in German, English, French, Italian, Finnish, Norwegian, Spanish, Turkish, Bulgarian, Roumanian, Polish, Czech, Slovakian and Croatian. Two selected books have already been published in English: Géza Balázs’ The Story of Hungarian – a Guide to the Language by Corvina Publishers, and an anthology of 19 contemporary Hungarian short stories by 11 Hungarian authors with the title Thy Kingdom Come.
Four excellent CD-ROMs shall also be published with the funding of the Frankfurt’99 Non-profit Organisation.
A great variety of Hungarian cultural events shall be running alongside the 1999 Frankfurt Book Fair across Germany. The Esterházy-collection shall be exhibited in the Schirn Kunsthalle, the celebrated paintings of József Rippl-Rónai shall also be presented to the public and Zoltán Kocsis shall conduct Liszt and Ligeti pieces at the Alte Oper. In a series of music shows, Márta Sebestyén and the Muzsikás Band shall give recitals. The Frankfurt Museum of Films shall present old Hungarian movies. In addition, a number of theatre and dance productions shall be staged too.
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Frankfurt '99
Non-profit Organisation,
Budapest 1054 Báthori u. 10. Fax: +(36) 1 269 20 53 E-mail: frankfurt_99.kht@mail.matav.hu |
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