Wednesday 4 October marked the beginning of the LIBER International Book Fair in Madrid, at which Poland is the guest of honour. The day before, the official inauguration of the event took place, as well as the opening of the Polish trade fair pavilion. The Polish presentation at the most important trade fair for the Spanish-speaking world was prepared by the Book Institute in collaboration with the Polish Institute in Madrid.

The LIBER International Book Fair is the most important event for the publishing industry in Spain and the Spanish-speaking part of Latin America. The event takes place every year, alternating between Barcelona and Madrid. The fair brings together publishers, literary agents, and other participants not only from Spain, but from the entire Spanish-speaking publishing market.

“I am delighted that we have the opportunity to learn first-hand about the Polish publishing market, but also about the translation programmes that help to strengthen relations between Poland and Spain. It is thanks to them that this ‘cultural exchange’ between our countries is possible at all”, said Miquel Iceta i Llorens, Minister of Culture and Sports of Spain, at the opening of the Polish pavilion.

Dariusz Jaworski, the director of the Book Institute, emphasised that we are in Madrid ‘to talk about what is interesting in Polish literature, what is worth recommending to publishers. ‘We would like Polish literature to be read and through literature to understand the Polish soul, Polish identity’, Dariusz Jaworski added.

The Polish exhibition stand with a total area of 120 m2 will feature 21 Polish issuers. They include publishing houses, literary agencies, printing houses, cultural institutions and other entities related to the Polish publishing market.

The main objective of Poland’s presence as guest of honour at the LIBER Book Fair is to strengthen the presence of Polish literature in Spain.

Adrian Andrzejewski