Portugal participates in the Leipzig Book Fair with the motto “(There are) forbidden words”

The Leipzig International Book Fair takes place in this German city, from April 27 to 30, with the presence of Portugal, under the slogan “(There are) forbidden words”, which honors three authors in their centenary years.

After three years of interruption due to the pandemic, the Leipzig Book Fair is once again present on the German and European literary scene, with Austria as the guest country this year, the General Directorate for Books, Archives and Libraries announced this Friday. (DGLAB), through his Instagram account.

The participation of Portugal as a guest country was initially scheduled for 2021, then it was postponed to 2022 and ended up not materializing. However, underlines the DGLAB, Portugal resumes its presence at this Fair, where it has been regularly since 2016, and where it has ensured “a diversified literary program that, together with a set of other initiatives, namely continuous support for translation and publishing -, has contributed to a growing diffusion of Portuguese literature in the German language”.

The motto chosen by Portugal to be represented at the fair is “(There are) forbidden words”, inspired by a verse by the poet Eugénio de Andrade, whose centenary of birth is celebrated this year. In addition to Eugénio de Andrade, homage is also paid to the poet Natália Correia and the philosopher Eduardo Lourenço, who were also born 100 years ago, as well as the poet Ana Luísa Amaral, who died in 2022.

According to DGLAB, the literary program includes writers Afonso Reis Cabral, Ana Paula Tavares, Cristina Carvalho, Isabela Figueiredo, Kalaf Epalanga and Luís Quintais, as well as the Brazilian writer living in Germany Carla Bessa.

Portugal’s participation in the Leipzig International Book Fair is a joint initiative of the bodies representing the Interministerial Working Group (Camões, Institute for Cooperation and Languages, DGLAB, Turismo de Portugal and the Portuguese Investment and Foreign Trade Agency) and of the Embassy of Portugal in Germany.