The 17th edition of the Bookfest International Book Fair ended on Sunday, June 2, after five days full of dozens of events at the publishers’ stands and on the stages set up by the organizers: book launches, debates, reading marathons, workshops for children.

The 17th edition had the Republic of Moldova as the guest country and was held under the slogan „Te cuprind” [I Embrace You].

All publishing houses came up with new titles, in all fields, as follows:

Among the best sold and most interesting titles proposed by the Humanitas publishing house were „Aurul pisicii” [The Cat’s Gold] by Ioana Parvulescu, „Cartea depresiilor: 24 de confesiuni despre tristete, teama, disperare si alti demoni” [The Book of Depressions: 24 Confessions about Sadness, Fear, Despair and Other Demons], coordinated by literary critic and writer Marius Chivu, and „Ochii Monei” [Mona’s Eyes] by Thomas Schlesser, translated by Daniel Nicolescu.

Polirom published „Cutitul. Reflectii in urma unei tentative de asasinat” [Knife] by Salman Rushdie, translated by Dana Craciun, which is a memoir about the incident in 2022 when the famed author was stabbed, „Empuzion. Horror naturopatic” [The Empusium. A Health Resort Horror Story] by Nobel Prize winner Olga Tokarczuk, translated by Cristina Godun, „KIWI 2024. Relatii. Antologie de proza scurta” [KIWI 2024. Short story collection] by Marius Chivu, ‘Cioburile’ [The Shards], the comeback book of the famed American writer Breat Easton Ellis, translated by Bogdan Perdivara, and ‘Crossroads’ by another famed American writer, Jonathan Franzen, translated by Antoaneta Ralian.

The Litera publishing house translated into Romanian ‘Ultimus vis’ [The Last Dream] by famed movie director Pedro Almodovar, with the translator being Lavinia Similaru.

‘Iti place mai intunecat’ [You Like it Darker] by Stephen King, and „Ultima carte” [The Last Book] by Marian Coman were among the bestsellers and most interesting novelties proposed by the Nemira publishing house.

The Paralela 45 publishing house proposed „Samson si Nadejda” [Samson and Nadezhda] by Book Prize listed Ukrainian author Andrei Kurkov, translated by Diana Iepure, „Retroversiuni: blocaje” [Retranslations: blockages], a new collection of short stories written by women coordinated by Cristina Ispas and Victor Cobuz, a collection of poetry by Stefania Mihalache, entitled ‘Sunt linistita, mi-e frica” [I’m Calm, I’m Afraid] by Stefania Mihalache, with drawings by artist Laurentiu Midvichi, and Garderoba [The Wardrobe], a short story collection coordinated by Diana Iepure.

„Discursul filosofic” [Philosphical Discourse] by Michel Foucault, translated by Ciprian Mihali, and „Cultura. Surprinzatoarele conexiuni si influente dintre civilizatii” [Culture: The Surprising Conections and Influences Between Civilisations] by famed literary critic Martin Puchner, translated by Radu Sorop, „Baiatul sclipitor” [The Shining Boy] by Paul Auster, translated by Iulia Gorzo, „Tacerea vine prima” [Silence Comes First] by Ioana Maria Stancescu and „In crestere” [Growing Up] by Mihai Mateiu were among the most interesting and bestsellers of the Trei publishing house.

The Corint publishing house attracted many of the bookfair’s visitors with „Oppenheimer: un prometeu american” [American Prometeus] by Kai Bird, Martin J. Sherwin, „Razboiul Sfant al Romaniei. Militarii, motivatia si Holocaustul” [Romania’s Holy War: The Military, Motivation and The Holocaust] by Grant T. Harward, translated by Alina Pavelescu, and „Paisprezece zile. Roman colectiv” [Fourteen Days. An Unauthorized Gathering], coordinated by Margaret Atwood and Douglas Preston (including 36 authors), translated by Mihaela Sofonea.

The smaller Spandugino publishing house prepared for this fair with the hit „Marele cod. Biblia si literatura” [The Great Code. The Bible and Literature] by Nortrop Frye, translated by Oana Fotache.

Cartier, a publishing house from the Republic of Moldova, which is very present on the Romanian market, came up with titles such as the very important „Istoria limbii romane” [The History of Romanian Language] by Dan Ungureanu and new titles in its Rotonda poetry collection, among which „Tagliatelle allegro” by Mina Decu, and „Aproape nimic sigur” [Almost Nothing Certain] by Robert Serban.

Black Button, a publishing house that translates many titles from Southern and Eastern Europe, this time proposed „Livada de peri” [The Pear Orchard] by Georgian writer Nana Ekvtimishvili, translated by Oto Peikrishvili.

„Spatiul comun” [Common Space: The City as Commons] by Stavros Stavrides, translated by Deniz Otay and Ilinca Pop, and „Catre nunta” [To the Wedding] by John Berger were the new titles proposed by Vellant, a publishing house that also brought a phone line at the fair, where the visitors could hear Romanian women authors reading from their books.

Tact, which is a small independent publishing house specializing in theory books in various areas, brought to the fair „Utopiile reale. Corpul utopic (HETEROTOPII)” [The Utopian Body] by Michel Foucault, translated by Bogdan Ghiu, „Stiluri de vointa radicala” [Styles of Radical Will] by Susan Sontag, translated by Liri Chapelan, „Natura poporului. Formele imaginarului social (secolele XVIII-XXI)” [The Nature of People. Forms of Social Imagination (18th-21st centuries)] by Deborah Cohen, translated by Andreea Ratiu, „Don Quijote. O adaptare a romanului lui Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra” [Don Quixote] by James Fenton, translated by George State, and „Naratorul cel rau. Un studiu despre realismul romanesc: Rebreanu, Preda, Dumitriu” [The Bad Storyteller. A Study into Romanian Realism: Rebreanu, Preda, Dumitriu] by C. Rogozanu.

Casa de editura Max Blecher came up with two new poetry collections, ‘ćs alienum’, by Mihok Tamas, and ‘Ludmila rastoarna munti’ [Ludmila Brings Down Mountains], by Lena Chilari, and also the 33rd edition of „Poesis international” a poetry focused magazine that includes a consistent selection of African poets this time.

The feminist Fractalia publishing house came up with the first translation into Romanian of the well-known ‘Un manifest al cyborgului. Manifestul speciilor însotitoare’ [A Cyborg Manifesto] by Donna Haraway, translated by Sinziana Cotoara and Vasile Mihalache, and two progressive children’s book, ‘Doua povesti de trezit copiii’ [Two Stories to Awaken the Children] and ‘Alfabetul calator’ [The Traveling Alphabet], by Oana Uiorean and Mihaela Michailov, respectively, illustrated by Laura Partin and Oana Ispir.

One of the most important new titles published by the Charmides publishing house at this edition of the bookfair was ‘Cartea lui Lucas’ [Lucas’s Book] by Irina-Roxana Georgescu.

Dezarticulat published ‘inima lenesa’ [Lazy Heart] by Andrew Davidson-Novosivschei, and author of American origin who is currently based in Romania.

Cartex published ‘Spune-mi unde sa apas mai tare’ [Tell Me Where to Press Harder] by poet Ramona Boldizsar.

A very interesting stand was that of Casa de pariuri literare, a small publishing house who did not sale any books at this edition of the fair, but offered for free, in exchange, a collection of five newspapers and a book focusing on the Grupul de la Brasov [The Brasov Group] literary movement, with the five newspapers being dedicated to Alexandru Musina, Andrei Bodiu, Simona Popescu, Caiues Dobrescu and Marius Oprea.

AGERPRES