The 2021 Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), or Frankfurter Buchmesse, that ran from Oct 20 to Oct 24, was the first major physical book fair held this year since the pandemic and so, attendees — including publishers, authors, booksellers and general readers — were delighted to be back in person.

Of course, the numbers were reduced, but attendees felt it was important to go on with the show. The number of publishers was about a quarter of the usual, but that actually made it easier to have spontaneous meetings and meaningful discussions — one participant said to me, “I’m glad the fair is not like before. We can breathe.”

The number of book business or trade-related visitors was about 36,000 from 105 countries and there were over 37,000 private visitors from 85 countries. Over 2,000 companies from 80 countries and 3,500 media representatives from 39 countries were present. The halls were large and the generous size and layouts of the stands were designed to prevent crowding. Vaccination certificates were carefully checked before allowing entry. The general orderliness and cleanliness were remarkable.

As the leading trade fair for the international publishing and content industry, the FBF had much to offer, both in terms of in-person and digital offerings. The enormous choice of programmes was on-site as well as digital and hybrid. Many other events were held alongside in the city.

Every year, Frankfurt has a country or region as a guest of honour. This year, it was Canada with the motto “Singular Plurality.” The guest of honour is always given the spotlight to showcase its literary, cultural and social life through programmes on its literature, art, music, film and theatre.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world’s largest book fair and this year was also the first physical book fair since the pandemic. It had much to offer, but Pakistan was again conspicuous by its absence

Canada had pride of place with scores of publishers and a hospitality space that offered great coffee and a chance to hear Canadian voices in English, French and indigenous languages. It presented, for the first time in the history of the FBF, both a physical and a virtual pavilion. The governor general of Canada led the large delegation of Canadian publishers, authors, illustrators, performers and artists, and over 380 books by Canadian authors, or about Canada, were released. The First Nations of Canada were also well represented by poets and authors from Quebec and Saskatchewan.

Supported by the German government’s Neustart Kultur programme, the country-wide reading festival called Open Books was held before live audiences. Publishers from different countries presented their latest fiction and non-fiction titles and Open Books Kids presented recent and new children’s books.

The fair was not without controversy, though, with four writers pulling out for reasons that far-right publishers were also present. German writer and activist Jasmina Kuhnke, who was scheduled to promote her debut novel, Black Heart, decided to withdraw when she learned that far-right books were also being promoted at the fair. After her withdrawal, three other authors followed suit and the Anne Frank Educational Centre, a political education organisation in Frankfurt, expressed solidarity with Kuhnke.

When Juergen Boos, director of the FBF, was asked about this, he said: “As long as these do not violate the Basic Law, we will also allow all exhibitors that are politically extreme … I have the impression that they are all very busy with themselves at the moment. When I leaf through the exhibition catalogue, I don’t see anybody who strikes me from that spectrum.”

The Frankfurter Buchmesse and the German Publishers and Booksellers Association gave a joint statement expressing regret at the withdrawals, saying that the voices of authors who speak against racism and in support of diversity, and who decided not to appear at the fair, will be missed. The statement added that “Freedom of expression and publication are, for us, paramount. They are the basis for engaging in a free exchange in our democracy and for having a book fair at all.”

While India, Bangladesh and many other countries had set up large national stands to promote their publishers and authors, Pakistan was conspicuous by its absence.

India was the guest of honour at the FBF some years ago and made a big impact with its high-profile authors (excluding Arundhati Roy!) and its programme of readings, music, dance, theatre, film screenings and exhibitions, held not just at the FBF, but across Germany.

I attended the FBF that year, and felt strongly that Pakistan should be the guest of honour at a future event. I spoke to the FBF authorities about this and was told that it was possible only if the Pakistani government offered to send authors, illustrators, designers, poets, publishers, artists and performers, and organise cultural and literary events.

We have many academics, poets and writers living in Germany who could assist and our government — and, indeed, our ambassador in Germany — needs to take this forward and approach the organisers. Being the guest of honour at the FBF is a great opportunity to bring our literature, society and culture into the international limelight and promote a great image of Pakistan.

We already have a base with the Allama Iqbal Professional Fellowship at the South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University, that is supported by the government of Pakistan. Pakistan should leverage its special relationship with Germany. Iqbal lived in Heidelberg for six months to learn German for his PhD thesis. His poem, ‘Ek Sham Darya-i-Neckar Heidelberg Ke Kinaray Per’ [An Evening on the Banks of the River Neckar in Heidelberg], was written there. A street is named after him and a German inscription of the poem is mounted in a park in the city. Being a literary and academic centre, Heidelberg had great influence on Iqbal and, in one of his letters, he termed his stay there “a beautiful dream.”

Our other strong link is Annemarie Schimmel, the great German Orientalist scholar after whom an avenue in Lahore has been named.

It was unfortunate that, while the governments of India, Bangladesh and many other countries had set up large national stands to promote their publishers and authors at the FBF 2021, Pakistan was conspicuous by its absence. Of course, being a guest of honour is a major commitment — the guest country has to send at least 50 authors and organise hundreds of cultural events in Germany before, during and after the fair — but having a national stand is relatively simple and affordable for a government. Frankfurt is such a powerful platform for international networking and for the promotion of our heritage that it is essential to have a strong Pakistani presence there every year.

In the past, whenever I visited other book fairs, such as the Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the London Book Fair, the Paris Book Fair, the Sharjah and Abu Dhabi Book Fairs, I found Pakistan again officially absent, with only the odd publisher attendee who came independently. The only time I saw a good Pakistani presence was at the Sharjah Book Fair in 2012, when Pakistan was, fortunately, the guest country and our publishers were supported by the Sharjah Book Authority.

International book fairs are ideal platforms for cultural diplomacy and we need to leverage them by participating fully and holding wide-ranging events with myriad highlights that would draw crowds. We need to send a strong signal through our diverse and talented writers, performers and artists, and organise captivating programmes to show our rich literary and cultural heritage to the educated and powerful audiences who throng to international book fairs.

The writer is the managing director of Lightstone Publishers. She is a recipient of an OBE from the UK government and a Sitara-i-Imtiaz from the Pakistan government.
She tweets @ameenasaiyid

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, November 28th, 2021