2023-11-08 20:50:24
The current difficult political and economic situation marked the opening of the 15th book fair “Buch Wien” on Wednesday evening, which will take place in Hall D of the Vienna Trade Fair until Sunday. “The outbreaks of violence that are happening these days are a declaration of war once morest the civilized world,” said Benedikt Föger, President of the Main Association of the Austrian Book Trade. “Books are the first remedy once morest carelessness and discouragement.”
In front of guests such as Federal President Alexander Van der Bellen and former President Heinz Fischer, Föger also referred to the economic challenges of the book industry and mentioned the reduction or abolition of VAT for books (“That also helped during the pandemic.”) or the introduction of one Cultural passport for young people as possible aid measures.
“These are difficult days and times,” Vienna’s City Councilor for Culture Veronica Kaup-Hasler (SPÖ) began her speech. “Language can be a pioneer in creating hatred, but language can also be a salvation,” she said, calling books “the smallest form of magic you can carry with you.” For State Secretary Andrea Mayer (Greens), book fairs are “also important in terms of democratic policy”: “Literature is the seismograph of our society. Literature puts its finger on open wounds without directing it towards others in a teaching way.”
The 57-year-old Scottish author Alison Louise Kennedy, who was awarded the Austrian State Prize for European Literature in 2007 and the Honorary Prize of the Austrian Book Trade in 2020, gave the opening speech under the title “In the Beginning” and showed herself to be very loyal to her home country critical: “For reasons that are not entirely clear to me, Britain certainly provides a very good example of a cultural crisis that triggered a series of other crises – and ultimately led to an unprecedented attack on art, one Attack that hit schools as well as theaters, universities, touring musicians… the list goes on and on. Many voices have been lost in the wake of this crisis, and many more will never find themselves,” Kennedy said in the Translation by Mascha Dabic.
“May Britain serve as a cautionary tale, an example of how not to do it – an example of what happens when we forget regarding art, when we forget that words have power and meaning, and when we forget that power and leaving meaning to the worst among us,” says the author. As a child, reading gave her experience of the world and empathy – something that is increasingly being lost. “We all literally have the power to help or harm, heal or hurt our country simply by reading, writing and publishing books.” Reading is “a voluntary obsession. But in our best written works, and especially in the best works of fiction, that obsession is that of a loving companion.”
It is easy to be “tired and disillusioned, but the miracle of words begins anew every day, is born every day, awakens every day in a happy child and overwhelms him with joy, day following day,” said AL Kennedy, whose novel “As if we lived in a merciful country” was recently published in German translation by Hanser. “All over the world, people are being tortured, imprisoned and executed for the things we can do in freedom. When we forget to do these things freely and to the best of our ability, then torture, imprisonment and all kinds of death come into play closer, and that doesn’t just apply to us, but to everyone.”
The opening is traditionally celebrated with the “Long Night of Books” and numerous events. Over 350 stage discussions, panel discussions and lectures with 439 authors from 25 nations have been announced until November 12th, including appearances and readings by Jo Nesbø, Boualem Sansal, Milo Rau, Olga Martynova, Maja Haderlap, Milena Michiko Flašar and Birgit Birnbacher.
ChatGPT and AI, migration and the welfare state, the war in Ukraine and the climate crisis are advertised as socio-political debate topics. The children’s and family program includes over 100 events, the age limit for free entry for children and young people has been raised from 10 to 14 years, and for the first time there is a separate trade fair area for the trendy New Adult genre. The exhibition area is 12,000 square meters and the number of exhibitors is given as 300. In 2022, 51,000 visitors were counted at “Buch Wien”.
(SERVICE – Buch Vienna, November 8th to 12th, Hall D Messe Wien, Vienna 2, Trabrennstrasse, opening times: November 8th: 4:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m., November 9th and 10th: 9 a.m. – 6 p.m., November 11th: 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., November 12th: 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. www.buchwien.at)
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