Image: Frankfurter Buchmesse
By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox
Yesterday, Frankfurter Buchmesse announced the books selected for this year’s Books at Berlinale. The goal of the annual event, which is a partnership between Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Berlinale Co-Production Market, is to showcase new releases from international authors that have potential for film or TV adaptation.Written by authors from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Mauritius, Mexico, Taiwan, and Turkey, the ten books selected will be presented on February 16 in a pitch event moderated annually by author Syd Atlas during the Berlinale Co-Production Market.
Below is the list of selected titles for Books at Berlinale 2026 (English title / original title):
- Dependency/Gift by Tove Ditlevsen, Gyldendal Group Agency, Denmark
- The Gift/Het geschenk by Gaea Schoeters, Belgium, Singel Uitgeverijen, Netherlands
- Girl in an Odd City/Kuai chen shao nu by Kiki Liu, Sense Creative Management Ltd., Taiwan
- Night at the Heart/La nuit au coeur by Nathacha Appanah, Gallimard, France
- Oberammergau by Robert Löhr, Graf & Graf Literatur- und Medienagentur, Germany
- On the Calculation of Volume/Om udregning af rumfang by Solvej Balle, Copenhagen Literary Agency, Denmark
- A Slight Loss of Loneliness/Nepatrná ztráta osamělosti by Eli Beneš, Prague Literary Agency, Czech Republic
- Still Born/La hija única by Guadalupe Nettel, Indent Literary Agency, Mexico
- To Deliver/Liefern by Tomer Gardi, Klett-Cotta Verlag, Germany
- Yuan Huan’s Phone Booth/Yuan Huan’ın Kulübesi by Miyase Sertbarut, Silva Literary Agency, Turkey
This year, the selected titles feature many social, historical, and political themes.
The seven-novel series On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle has already been translated into 30 languages and the first novel was shortlisted for the International Booker Award last year. The story examines time, space, and identity as the protagonist wakes up every morning on November 18.
Three of the selected works focus on female figures in the 20th and 21st centuries. Night at the Heart by Nathacha Appanah which Elle calls “a violent, splendid, necessary book,” powerfully interweaves the stories of three women who were victims of domestic violence. In Still Born, author Guadalupe Nettel explores motherhood through her three female protagonists in a profound narrative about life and loss. Dependency, the third book in the Copenhagen Trilogy, presents author Tove Ditlevsen’s journey through love, friendship, ambition, and addiction.
Three books travel back in time. Oberammergau by screenwriter Robert Löhr examines a town ravaged by plague and what they must do to try to save themselves – through performing the passion play. The bestseller A Slight Loss of Loneliness by Eli Beneš follows Auschwitz survivor Peter Stein as he returns home where no one is waiting for him in a poetic narrative about loneliness, friendship, survival, and the deep longing for love. Tomer Gardi’s five interwoven stories of delivery workers in To Deliver offer a striking portrait of our globalized world with strong cinematic potential.
Two coming-of-age novels illustrate the power of storytelling: Girl in an Odd City and Yuan Huan’s Phone Booth. While The Gift by Gaea Schoeters uses satire to highlight current political issues, from climate catastrophe and colonial history to the handling of refugees in Europe.
Books at Berlinale was launched in 2006 as a collaboration between Frankfurter Buchmesse and the Berlinale Co-Production Market. For more information, visit the Berlinale Co-Production Market website.
For past Publishing Perspectives coverage of Books at Berlinale, click here.