Frankfurter Buchmesse president and CEO Juergen Boos opens a news conference in Frankfurt, previewing the coming trade show. Image: FBM
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also:
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Mann, Cardi, Schumacher-Gebler Headline Frankfurt’s 2025 Publishing Perspectives Forum
Cultural and Political Topics of ‘Frankfurt Calling’ 2025
Programming: The International Publishers Association at Frankfurt
Frankfurter Buchmesse Outlines Plans for Comics, Manga, Webtoons
Juergen Boos: ‘The Power of Dialogue Across All Borders’
In a news conference at Frankfurt’s Evangelische Akademie this morning (September 16), Frankfurter Buchmesse‘s (October 15 to 19) organizers have announced various programs and features new to the world’s largest trade show in book publishing.
In its 77th iteration, the weeklong event is a complicated meld of programming—both for the world book publishing industry’s professionals and for the interested public, which joins the events on the weekend—and actual trade. The show’s Literary Agents and Scouts Center (LitAg), again this year completely sold out, is the “beating heart” of the show, the place in which translation and publication rights are bought and sold across national and linguistic frontiers.
Last year’s Frankfurter Buchmesse drew some 115,000 trade visitors from 153 countries (professionals in the book business), that number swelling to 230,000 total attendees when combined with the visits of the general public. More than 4,300 exhibitors were seen on the floors of the big show’s many halls, as the show’s programming staged more than 3,300 events in five days. The LitAg rights-trading floor sold out at 593 tables booked by 320 agencies from 31 countries. Visitors to the LitAg and Publishers’ Rights Center exceeded 38,000 colleagues.
Speaking to a strong showing of reporters from various news media today, Juergen Boos. Buchmesse’s president and CEO, said, “The book fair in Frankfurt is the place where the world comes together.
“In times of global tension, we need spaces for exchange, listening, and cooperation more than ever before. Our mission is to connect people—as an international marketplace for rights and licensing; a stage for social debate; and a festival of compelling stories.
“In Frankfurt, we celebrate books and the power of dialogue across all borders.”
Joined by Buchmesse spokesman Torsten Casimar, guest-of-honor chief Simone Bühler, and public relations manager Ines Bachor, Boos and his team talked through a major panoply of activity being developed for the show’s opening a month from now.
Publishing Perspectives’ readership already has been briefed on many aspects of the coming show, ranging from an expanded Book-to-Screen Day and the Publishing Perspectives Forum’s special presentations of Simon & Schuster UK’s Perminder Mann, JC Lattes’ Véronique Cardi, and Bonnier Media Germany’s Christian Schumacher-Gebler to the cultural and political themes of this year’s Frankfurt Calling program and plans for the Guest of Honor Philippines program ahead.
What follows are some of the highlights touched on in today’s press preview at Frankfurt.
Was ist Neu — What Is New This Year?
Frankfurt’s Simone Bühler speaks at the news conference on the plans of the Guest of Honor Philippines programming to come in October at Buchmesse. Image: FBM
New and featured elements of the trade show are parts of the presentation that trade visitors will want to familiarize themselves with as they put together their schedules of meetings and events at Frankfurter Buchmesse.
Opening Ceremony
A redesigned invitational opening ceremony of the 77th Frankfurter Buchmesse on October 14 in the Congress Center will of course feature Guest of Honor Philippines and its slogan, The Imagination Peoples the Air. Speakers and performers scheduled to appear include chanter Rosie Sula; the UNESCO-recognized choir Philippine Madrigal Singers; the Frankfurt-based musician and artist Jan Hennig, who is known as Kabuki; three Filipino poets—Merlie M. Alunan, Marjorie Evasco, and Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta. The host for the event will be the singer and musician Matthias Keller.
Center of Words
The Crespo Foundation—the nonprofit self-realization center founded in Frankfurt in 2001 by the late psychologist and photographer Ulrike Crespo—is a new partner of Frankfurter Buchmesse this year, and the Center of Words (Hall 4.1, Stand F21) is a hub contemporary literature and translation. The Center of Words is also supported by the Association of German-Speaking Translators; the German Literature Fund; the German Translators’ Fund (with funding from the German federal government’s commissioner for culture and media); and Kunststiftung NRW.
Center Stage
A newly devised stage, set at Hall 4.1 (up the escalator from Frankfurt Studio), is expected to offer as many as 50 events in current issues and topics. One focus will be Frankfurt Calling, the branding assigned to the annual cultural and political program organized by Buchmesse and its partners. Speakers are expected to include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Maria Ressa; former NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg; German minister of justice Dr. Stefanie Hubig; historian Adam Tooze; the owner of the Educational Bookshop in Jerusalem, Mahmoud Muna; and the writer, journalist, and documentary-maker Matthew Teller.
In the case of Center Stage, partners include Amnesty International; the United Nations; the Anne Frank Educational Center; Correctiv; and PEN International.
Comics and Webtoons
The Comics Business Center in Hall 6.1 will be showcasing manga, comics, and other offerings from a sector that continues to expand. New this year: a Webtoon area. On Frankfurt Wednesday (October 15), an event with Webtoon ambassador Sébastien Célimon will take place at 11 a.m. at the Frankfurt Studio Pop-up, Hall 4.0, outside Frankfurt Studio itself. There also be a guided comics area tour followed by a happy hour (October 15 at 3 p.m. in the Comics Business Centre, Hall 6.1, Stand A 62).
The Documentary ‘Philippines: Literature as Resistance Against Dictators,’ ARTE/ZDF 2025
Frankfurt’s 2025 Guest of Honor Philippines takes the screen, in this focus on its civil society’s moving struggle for self-determination. In director Carsten Stromer’s documentary, books support revolutions. Giving identity a voice is frequently mentioned as a goal of the Philippine literary scene, and that concept is part of this film’s ethos. The film can be seen on October 15 at 10.10 p.m. on the ARTE TV channel or online at arte.tv. There will also be a screening at the book fair on Frankfurt Thursday, October 16, at 6.30 p.m. in Frankfurt Studio (Hall 4.0). Languages: German and French.
PublisHer: Women in Publishing
As many of our world traveling readers know, the international network of women in the book business, PublisHer, has its own very spacious stand designed by Dubai-based Weam Ibrahim, and this year, that stand will be seen at Frankfurter Buchmesse, thanks to Frankfurter Buchmesse. This women’s organization, founded by the Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi of Sharjah in the United Arab Emirates, is to include its relatively recently developed PublisHer Lounge in that presentation, and will make full details of the PublisHer programming for Frankfurt available soon.
One event to note is an opening-day panel in the 1 p.m. hour on the stand’s center stage, “The Invisible Women of Publishing.” Moderated by Emma House, the discussion is to include Bologna Children’s Book Fair (April 13 to 16) director Elena Pasoli; Copyright Clearance Center president and CEO Tracey Armstrong; Agamee Parkashani’s executive director Mitia Osman; and BookCareers’ Suzanne Collier.
A Podcast Studio for Recording and Listening
The audio agency WatchYourHead is bringing a see-through podcast studio to Frankfurt, allowing exhibitors and content creators to produce their own high-quality audio or video podcasts, live at the trade show. Acoustic glazing preserves the sound quality in the studio, while also allowing visitors to look inside and use headphones to listen along as podcast episodes are recorded.
Festhalle Becomes a New Venue
The capacious Festhalle is to hold a “meet the author” area for consumer-facing book signings by writers including Bianca Iosivoni, Stella Tack, Nena Tramountani, Maren Vivien Haase, Ayla Dade, Julia Dippel, Ava Reed, and Kyra Groh. The venue’s international authors are to include international personalities V. E. Schwab, Cassandra Clare, Mercedes Ron, and Abby Jimenez. A Festhalle pop-up stage will offer talks and readings on romantasy, new-adult fiction, and BookTok trends.
IKEA is partnering in the Festhalle with what we’re told will be comfortable seating intended to persuade visitors to linger. There are also to be IKEA bookshelves featured in the program
A Frankfurter Buchmesse 2026 Showroom
In the foyer of Hall 4.1, Frankfurter Buchmesse is opening a display highlighting a new hall layout, which is to be implemented at the Messe in 2026.
The “showroom” is to explicate the planned reorganization using large-format visuals and videos, of course. It will also offer exhibitors an opportunity to provide feedback. The showroom is primarily aimed at exhibitors and industry professionals.
Frankfurt Kids at the Congress Center
This year, most of the Frankfurt Kids Festival events (some featuring the illustrator Axel Scheffler) are to will take place during the weekend in the Congress Center at Messe Frankfurt. Participants will include TV broadcaster ARD and KIKA, its program for children, along with their popular mouse figure and Bernd das Brot (Bernd the Bread), who is to stroll through the crowd. Bernd das Brot is a puppet, a mascot of German television’s KiKA, a Pullman loaf said to be “chronically depressed.” The Frankfurt Kids Festival starts on Friday with the German Aerospace Center making it possible for young visitors to climb into SpaceBuzz One on the Agora. On Sunday, astronaut Matthias Maurer will be on-hand to talk about training to go to the moon.
The Innovation Stage in Hall 4.0
“Friday Innovation Talks” are to be set on the Innovation Stage in Hall 4.0 (Stand H106) to pool its events on up-and-coming international topics, in cooperation with exhibitors and partners including the Society for Scholarly Publishing and the Charleston Conference. Artificial intelligence, open access, and freedom of research and publication are to be the top issues explored during presentations, micro-conferences and networking events. One new feature: the “Friday Innovation Talks” sponsored by Frankfurter Buchmesse, Bookwire, and Pondus will run from 2:30 to 5 p.m. on Friday.
Frankfurter Buchmesse Kickoff Run
The “Kickoff Run” is back, organized by Publishers Without Borders in cooperation with Frankfurter Buchmesse. On the Sunday before the fair, exhibitors and trade visitors will meet up for a five-kilometer run along the Main river. If you’d like to jog along, help out, or cheer the participants on, please register in advance by email as places are limited: servicecenter@buchmesse.de. At 5 p.m. on October 12, the meeting point is at DFF , Deutsches Film Museum.
The international tactile writing system Braille is celebrating its anniversary at the trade show in Frankfurt, with an exhibition in the foyer of Hall 4.1.
DialogMuseum and Frankfurter Buchmesse will be co-hosting this chance for attendees to come by and learn about the beginnings of Braille and the system behind it.
In addition—and with the European Accessibility Act having just been implemented in June—Buchmesse will again offer a special guided tour of the guest of honor pavilion. Learn more and/or register tat servicecenter@buchmesse.de or by phone at +49 69 2102-0.
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here; more on international book fairs and publishing-industry trade shows is here; more on world book publishing and politics is here; and more on the German book publishing industry and book business is here.
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