Le parole tra noi leggere | The XXXVII edition

Entitled Le parole tra noi leggere (Words fall lightly between us), the 37th edition of the
Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino (the second under Annalena Benini’s editorial
direction) celebrates its conclusion with great enthusiasm from the vast and warm crowd attendingthe final press conference.

During the five days, 231.000 book-lovers, professionals, students, translators and publishers stormed the book fair, confirming it as Italy’s largest publishing event with
its 977 stalls, 70 events’ venues, over 2500 events on site and an additional 800 all around the city and region in the Salone Off Programme featuring Italian and International guests.

The Salone events programme unfolded in 31 venues and 10 labs, featuring 1513 events. The bookfair offered 172.480 seats, with an average occupancy of 75%. 315 events were completely sold out. 129.360 readers had the opportunity to meet Italian and International authors. Furthermore, 1134 events were dedicated to media and institutions. Hence, visitors had access to a programme of 2647 events, in addition to the 800 of the Salone Off programme.

For its 37th edition, Salone launched the Romance Pop Up space, in 11 venues at the UCI
Cinema just above the Lingotto, with a Meet&Greet formula that allowed 3600 readers to meet 52 authors: The 9120 available tickets were sold in little more than 30 minutes. The authors signed 50.000 books.

Among the most successful events were those featuring authors Stefan Boonen, Jan Brokken, Émmanuel Carrere, Mircea Cărtărescu, Javier Cercas, Tracy Chevalier, Caroline Darian, Joël Dicker, Penelope Douglas, Etgar Keret, Felicia Kingsley, Saitō Kōhei, Paul Murray, Valérie Perrin, David Quammen, Rie Qudan, Jean Reno, Yasmina Reza, Lucy Sante, Adania Shibli, Liv Strömquist, Victoire Tuaillon, Scott Turow. Among the Italians: Alessandro Barbero, Daria Bignardi, Gianrico Carofiglio, Concita De Gregorio, Donatella Di Pietrantonio, Luciano Ligabue e Matteo Zuppi, Cecilia Sala, Salmo, Roberto Saviano, Antonio Scurati, Toni Servillo, Ornella Vanoni, Antonello Venditti, Sandro Veronesi.

The participation of the Netherlands as Guest of Honour at the XXXVII Turin International Book Fair was an extraordinary success, consolidating the cultural ties between Italy and the Netherlands and offering the Italian public a deep immersion in the variety of Dutch literature.

Under the title “The discovery of Holland”, the campaign promoted by the Dutch Foundation for Literature and the Embassy and Consulate General of the Netherlands in Italy brought a delegation of 19 authors to Turin, involved in over 50 events including presentations, workshops and meetings, both in the Spazio Paesi Bassi, always crowded, and in the halls of the fair. Among the most attended events were the two inaugural events of the program: the presentation of The discovery of Holland (Iperborea) by Jan Brokken in the Sala Azzurra, and the show Be Opera with Ernst Munneke, Ton Meijer, and Wendeline van Houten in the Sala Rossa. The dialogue on the figure of Alcibiades between Ilja Leonard Pfeijffer and the Director of the Egyptian Museum of Turin, Christian Greco,
was also well attended.

In addition to the enthusiasm with which the great names of Dutch literature
were received, the program highlighted the interest in young Dutch authors and poets, encouraging fruitful contacts with Italian publishers and readers. The stand paid particular attention to the art of translation, with daily meetings highlighting translators' fundamental role in bringing Dutch literature to the Italian public. The Poem Booth also aroused great enthusiasm: an interactive installation by Studio VOUW which, thanks to artificial intelligence inspired by the work of the poet Ellen Deckwitz, generated over 2,000 personalised poems for visitors. Gert Jan Pos' workshop allowed participants to create over 100 Delft tiles per hour (1,800 in five days), decorating them with literary quotes,
combining tradition and creativity.

A special tribute to Cees Nooteboom with the creation of a mural at the Palavela by the artist Zenk One, inspired by The Mountains of the Netherlands. The success of “The Discovery of Holland” at the Turin Book Fair represents a starting point for future cultural
collaborations between the two countries, promising lasting fruits in the international literary scene.

Torino’s “spotlight on the book trade” closed doors on Friday, May 16th, after three exciting days of meetings and networking. 450 publishing professionals from 38 countries have registered on the much-appreciated matching platform: 42 are film production companies, despite the Cannes Film Festival being on simultaneously, 147 are Literary and Scouting Agencies, and 261 are publishers. The matching platform “generated” 4056 meetings – not including the countless additional moments of exchange, dialogue and networking for the Rights Centre community, which extends beyond the registered professionals to include many of of all the publishers, translators, agents, authors, and journalists who participate in the public-facing bookfair, just next door to the Centro Congressi where the rights negotiations take place.

The Torino Rights Centre is just one of the fair’s many professional programs, which
include events designed for translators, like the greatly appreciated AutoreInvisibile (celebrating its 25th reiteration this year), as well as for teachers, librarians, printers, event organisers, agents, distributors and promoters.

The next Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino is scheduled for May 14-18, and the Rights Centre is scheduled for May 13-15. Greece will be the Guest of Honour country.