The 37th iteration of Italy’s largest bookfair is on its marks. The opening event on Thursday, May 15th at 11.30 at the Auditorium Agnelli will feature institutional greetings by Silvio Viale, President of the Associazione Torino, La città del libro; Stefano Lo Russo, Mayor of Turin; Elena Chiorni, Vice-President of the Piedmont Region; Vincenzo De Luca, president of the Campania Region. Celebrating The Netherlands as the Guest of Honor Country the ceremony will also feature Willem Van Ee, Dutch Ambassador in Italy as well as a greetings video of Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp ; In conclusion, greetings of the Italian Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, the Director of the Italian Trade Agency Lorenzo Galanti and the Director of Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino Annalena Benini.
The ceremony then continues with the inauguration of the Netherlands stall and, at 2 pm, opening lecture by the French author and playwright Yasmina Reza.
A public facing bookfair, Salone Internazionale del Libro also has a trade show of its own, the Rights Centre, where international publishing negotiations are to start at 10 am on Wednesday, May 14th, until Friday May 16th. Over 500 professionals will gather from all over the world at the Centro Congressi where negotiations are being held. The Rights Centre also offers a fellowship program, supported by ICE, the Italian Trade Agency, for publishers, literary agents and scouts.
On May 14th, 5.30 pm at the Centro Congressi, Sala Berlino, the community of passionate publishing professionals will have the opportunity to attend the third shortlist ceremony of the Aficionado Award, promoted by Salone Internazionale del Libro di Torino and Frankfurter Buchmesse. The 2025 shortlistees are the independent publishing house Seagull (Calcutta), La disparition, (Marseille), an epistolary media about things that are disappearing, and the association of literature professionals zoraLIT (Berlin). The three shortlisted candidates have been chosen by the preliminary jury consisting of Laurence Laluyaux (RCW Literary Agency), Peter van der Zwaag (Bezige Bij) and Camilla Cottafavi (Feltrinelli)
Guest of Honor Country this year are The Netherlands, presenting Dutch authors in a unique program, The discovery of Holland, which includes both adults- and children-books authors, as well as the Poem Booth, an artistic installation that creates poetry inspired by an instant photograph or the online experiment You have a new friendship request, featured at the Salone Off program.
All booklovers are invited to discover the 137,000 sqm exhibition space of the Salone, with the participation of 700 exhibitors, 51 different venues and 220 labs for the over 2000 events at the fair and another 500 and more at the Salone Off in countless locations downtown and around the Region. Breath-taking venues at the Lingotto include Aboca’s “Writers’ Forest” and the rooftop Pista 500, in collaboration with Pinacoteca Agnelli. And once again, the Salone del Libro Live Stage is there to host concerts, conversations and performances.
All visitors can turn to the SalTo+ platform for info and assistance as well as for purchasing tickets and booking events. Rain is not an issue: the exhibition area is completely sheltered, all events are confirmed. The updated program of events is always available on www.salonelibro.it