Doors to the World

Vast, thronging crowds, hustle and bustle, long queues to different stalls, visitors determined to procure their desired volume and favourite author’s signature…

Over 700 exhibitors, 70,000 visitors, 750 authors and 300 journalists. The numbers speak for themselves, don’t they? The 22th International Book Fair in Kraków is almost here (22-28 October): four days of meetings with authors, industry experts and readers, discussions, exhibitions, film screenings, and – most importantly – books with their brand-new smell and beautiful covers enticing us to explore their fascinating pages.

Each year we explore the culture and literature of a selected country, and this year’s guest of honour is Sweden. There will be several events introducing the country’s publishing industry, in particular its highly acclaimed children’s literature and popular Scandinavian crime thrillers.

Who will receive this year’s Jan Długosz prize? The competition awards authors of books which “make a major contribution to the development of global science and culture”, while the contest itself aims to popularise science and popular science books in the humanities.

Libraries of 2028: what will they be like? The same as today or completely different? Will we still need them at all? Perhaps they’ll fit in the memory of a mobile phone or guess our needs based on what we do online? These and other questions will be explored during the Małopolska Library Forum (25 October), featuring industry meetings, discussion panels and workshops.

Of course we all know that reading is worthwhile, and infecting kids with a passion for it is a sine qua non of all book lovers. The festival abounds with attractions for young bookworms: the Children’s Workshop Zone includes sessions on poetry writing, literary, art, spelling and music workshops, and meetings with favourite authors.

The leading theme of this year’s events comes from Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s The Queen of the South: “Books are doors that lead out into the street”. The fair is the perfect adventure for readers thirsty for new books. Come one, come all, and let us get swept away by reading! (Barbara Zajac, Karnet magazine)