The 9th International Budapest Book Festival was bursting at the seams this year, with 600 publishers jammed into the Budapest Convention Centre from April 18-21. As some 60,000 visitors browsed 40,000 books on display, it’s no wonder that the punchy fair organizers — those being the Hungarian Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association in partnership with the Frankfurt Book Fair — were already said to be scouting a larger venue for next year. If Hungarian President Ferenc Madl has his way, anyway, the fair should keep blooming. Madl used the fair’s opening to tout Hungary’s bid for European Union status, proudly noting “the recent successes of Hungarian literature abroad” and adding that Hungary “can thus enter the new Europe of nations as a language community” whose written word can stand on its own. (Hungary is one of 10 nations from the former Soviet bloc expected to gain EU status in 2004.)
Also abloom at the fair was the European First Novel Festival, which aims to offer young European literary talents a regular venue to introduce their works (and, of course, get a shot at new translations and publications). This year the invited first novelists included 18-year-old French writer Anne-Sophie Brasme, whose Breathe tells of a perverse complicity between two teenage girls. Another debut novelist was Annette Pehnt, a 35-year-old writer based in Freiburg, whose I Must Be Off is said to paint “an urban picture of marginalized individuals” in three-page chapters (it’s been compared with Madeleine St. John’s The Essence of Things). And the UK’s Rajeev Balasubramanyam was a pick for his work In Beautiful Disguises (it’s published in the US by Bloomsbury USA).
Though Hungary is a limited market (initial print runs are around 3,000 copies, and retail prices are much behind the western standard), the German presence was noticeably stronger this year, as was that of Italy, which, as the fest’s invited country, showcased major houses Feltrinelli, Einaudi, Mondadori, and others, plus authors such as Cesare Garboli, Claudio Magris, and Gabriella d’Ina. Many other nations offered new titles, mainly for co-printing, and more foreign agents were also seen working the stands this year. Since appointments are typically made during the festival, you can decide at the last minute to visit Budapest, and still do plenty of wheeling and dealing.
We thank Judit Hermann, Director of Andrew Nurnberg Associates in Budapest, for her contribution to this report.
