The world’s largest book fair highlights the guest of honor’s publishing industry, literature, languages, and cultures.
Last August 18, the Philippines reached a milestone with the signing of the Guest of Honor contract between the country’s National Book Development Board (NBDB) and Frankfurter Buchmesse (FBM)—also known as the Frankfurt Book Fair.
“As the country steps into its role as Guest of Honor, we will learn a lot about the importance of storytelling and today’s cultural scene for Philippine civil society,” says FBM president and CEO Juergen Boos.
Leading the historic signing at the recently concluded Philippine Book Festival in Davao City were FBM president and CEO Juergen Boos and NBDB officials, led by chair Dante Francis Ang II and Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade.
A feat for Philippine publishing
There are several reasons why this event is momentous. For starters, the FBM is the world’s largest trade fair for books, so any country that becomes the guest of honor gets to have a bright spotlight cast on its publishing industry, literature, languages, and cultures (for instance, this year’s guest of honor, Slovenia, is currently prominently featured on Frankfurter Buchmesse’s official website).
It’s a golden opportunity for the country to network and conduct dialogues within the global publishing industry. For instance, one of the aims of the Guest of Honor program is to increase the number of translations from the host country into German.
“Even though the Philippines is the world’s 13th largest nation with more than 110 million citizens, I believe for many of us in Europe, Philippine literature is currently still rather unknown territory. As the country steps into its role as Guest of Honor, we will learn a lot about the importance of storytelling and today’s cultural scene for Philippine civil society,” said Boos during the signing.
While the book fair has a tradition that spans more than half a millennium, it was only in 1976 that the FBM began hosting guests of honor. Indonesia was invited in 2015, making it the first Southeast Asian country to be featured.
It was also in 2015 when Senator Loren Legarda learned about the fair. Since then, she has pushed for the Philippines to be recognized, encouraging the government to make significant investments toward our publishing industry.
“I have worked tirelessly for this, together with then NBDB Chair Neni Sta. Romana Cruz and Board Members Karina Bolasco and Ani Almario. Eight years since I learned about this fair and its importance in 2015, we have worked tirelessly, and now we have finally clinched that honor and distinction,” the senator shared in a press release.
A historic signing
What made the signing more meaningful were the pens that the executives used to sign the agreement. Palanca Hall of Famer and avid pen collector Jose “Butch” Dailsay Jr. shared on Facebook that NBDB Executive Director Anthony Balisi reached out to him days before the Philippine Book Festival to borrow a few pens for the signing.
“You can imagine what a pleasurable problem I had on my hands, choosing the most suitable pens to lend out for the occasion,” the acclaimed writer said in his post. “They had to be significant, substantial, and symbolic—and, of course, a breeze to sign with.”
After scanning his collection, Dalisay selected the following: a German-made Graf von Faber-Castell Classic in silver and pernambuco wood, loaded with Japanese Iroshizuku Yama-guri (deep brown) ink; an Italian-made Gioia Alleria Amaranto with a BB stub nib, loaded with German Rohrer und Klingner Dokumentus archival ink in purplish blue; and backup Montblanc 163 rollerball, “just in case the signers didn’t feel comfortable with a fountain pen.”
“Having been to the FBM in 2016, I can only be happy for the other authors whose works will be featured at the fair, and who might even be asked to attend. It’ll be the treat of a lifetime for those writers and for the Philippines,” Dalisay noted.
For more information about the Frankfurter Buchmesse, visit https://www.buchmesse.de/en. For more details about the National Book Development Board, visit their website or official Facebook page.
