After a three-year interruption caused by the pandemic, the Leipzig Book Fair opened its doors again from April 26-30, 2023. Liechtenstein was also represented. The "Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding 2023" was awarded to the Russian-Jewish novelist and poet Maria Stepanova for her volume of poetry "Mädchen ohne Kleidung", 2022. Guest country was Austria
Liechtenstein at the Leipzig Book Fair 2023
After a three-year interruption caused by the pandemic, the Leipzig Book Fair opened its doors again from April 26-30, 2023. Liechtenstein was also represented. The "Leipzig Book Prize for European Understanding 2023" was awarded to Russian-Jewish novelist and poet Maria Stepanova for her poetry collection "Girl Without Clothes," 2022. The guest country was Austria.
In cooperation with the Embassy of the Principality of Liechtenstein in Berlin, the Liechtenstein Cultural Foundation once again designed a stand at which recent literary publications in particular were presented. A special focus of the book fair and Liechtenstein was on the graphic novel and on so-called cinematic poems, to which artists with a connection to Liechtenstein have already made impressive contributions.
The Liechtenstein Embassy in Berlin, in cooperation with the Liechtenstein Cultural Foundation, once again set up a stand
The Cultural Foundation had organized a competition on cinematic poems in 2022. Filmic poems are a young artistic form between literature and film. They are not about film adaptations of literature, but about a mutual observation and influence from medium to medium. Works with the participation of Liechtenstein artists were presented at the fair.
The works of the most successful participants were presented at the LiechtensteinStand. These included, from Liechtenstein, Martina Morger ("Below the Surface"), Manfred Naescher ("My Mirror Image in the Duck Pond"), Arno Oehri ("H"), Laura Hilti, Mathias Ospelt, Eliane Schädler and Adam Vogt ("Rhine Pirates"), Anna Ospelt ("Blackbirds") and Barbara Schneider from Zurich, who grew up in Liechtenstein ("Embodiment").
The Liechtenstein artists Arno Oehri and Manfred Naescher took part in a panel discussion entitled "Workshops of the ephemeral," which was already the title of an event organized by the Liechtenstein Cultural Foundation with the Literaturhaus Liechtenstein in 2022. The discussion was about the filmic poems themselves and examples were discussed.
The book fair's host country this year was Austria. The Liechtenstein Cultural Foundation had closely coordinated part of its appearance with the Austrian delegation. Likewise, Liechtenstein was and is involved in the activities of TRADUKI. For 15 years, this has been a European network that uses literary means to connect Southeastern Europe with the German-speaking world and its literary world through books, translations, festivals, workshops, residency programs for authors and translators, and also the Southeastern European countries with each other.
On April 28, a panel discussion on "Graphic Novels and the War" took place, in which Meikel Mathias, a native of Liechtenstein, also participated. The event addressed how war shapes graphic novels or even everyday stories of love and relationships suddenly appear in a changed context.
The writer Anna Ospelt had been nominated by the Literaturhaus Liechtenstein for her work "Frühe Pflanzung", for the European Union Prize for Literature 2023. With her latest work, from which she read in front of a large audience on April 28, she belonged to the illustrious circle of 13 nominees from 13 European countries. The winner of the competition was the Croatian writer Marina Vidaić for her novel "Bedbugs".
Liechtenstein was represented on the opening day by Ambassador Isabel Frommelt-Gottschald and during the fair by staff of the embassy, as well as on behalf of the Liechtenstein Cultural Foundation by President Roland Marxer, Vice President Rainer Gassner, and Deputy Executive Director Brigitte Weber.
The next Leipzig Book Fair will take place from March 21-24, 2024.
