Look out, Moscow: there’s a new book fair on the block. That’s the word on the street, anyway, as this month’s 15th Moscow International Book Fair hits the town from September 4-9. The venerable Russian institution, expanded this year with a rights center and expected to grab record attendance atop the most recent wave of globalization, has nonetheless found itself with a rival. Enter the upstart Non/fiction Book Fair, billed as the “4th International Book Fair of high-quality fiction and nonfiction,” slated to run November 27 to December 2.
Why the new fair? “To embrace the wide diversity of the new-wave book world, to provide an alternative to mass-market culture, and to acquaint the public with the broad range of intellectual achievements of the last decade,” says Luda Frost, Project Manager for fair producer ExpoPark Exhibition Projects. An “expert council” of publishers selects the exhibitors, who are encouraged to proffer things like “conceptual book projects” and “book-actions.” Previous fairs have attracted over 30,000 visitors, and 150 exhibitors are on tap for this year’s show, more than 20% of which are foreign. The special theme is “The Literary Critics,” and heavy hitters from France, the UK, and the Ukraine have been invited for roundtables and seminars.
The fair responds to a nascent shift in Russian publishing away from imported bestsellers and toward more literary fare, says Yulia Borodyanskaya, Subsidiary Rights Manager for Newmarket Publishing. Authors such as Nikolay Gumilev, Umberto Eco, and even Sartre are said to be selling, and contemporary writers include Boris Akunin (he’s been snapped up by Random’s Modern Library) and Ludmila Ulitskaya, whose novel The Funeral Party was published in the US last year by Schocken. There may even be hope for sales of Russian fiction abroad. “Russian fiction was not at all in demand until the last few years,” says Natalia Matveyeva, Rights Manager for Moscow’s Text Publishers. “Only in recent months have we felt an interest waking up. But everybody prefers something with a scandalous flavor, and not too much detail about Russian life.”
Still, traditional business is perking along, and even English titles have shown promise. “English-language book exports have grown steadily,” says Sandy Friedman, Random House’s Senior VP for International Sales. Mariann Kenedi, who manages Random’s English sales in Russia, adds that “English-language education has been getting very important,” and says that as American fiction is widely translated, Russians want to read their Grisham in the original. Unfortunately, wild currency wobbles have brought a five-fold price hike for imported goods, and a 20% VAT on book imports hasn’t helped matters. “The potential is there, but it’s a long-term seeding process,” Friedman says.
The faltering economy has given some exhibitors at the bigger Moscow fair pause. “Sales for the last few months have slumped badly,” says Bob Michel, VP and Director of International Sales for the AOL Time Warner Book Group. “It didn’t make sense for us to go this year.” But he hasn’t given up all hope. Michel says his bestsellers in Russia are mass-market paperbacks, but that — regardless of the trend toward literature — Bulfinch titles sell well, too. “A lot of wealthier Russians will think nothing of spending $100 on Ansel Adams,” he says. “Bulfinch is coming out with 100 Years of Harley Davidson, with a rubberized cover. I think we’ll get some nice orders on that from Russia.”
We thank Olga Borodyanskaya, literary agent and publishing consultant in St. Petersburg, for her contribution to this article.
