With most, if not all of Hungary’s publishing industry represented beside an ever-growing range of world literature, the festival spanned eight venues and some 400 different events. 

 

This year’s special Guest of Honour was 2009 Man Booker International Prize nominee Ludmila Ulitskaya, whose works have received several international and Russian literary awards, and has come to be among the most prominent and popular authors with Hungarian publisher Magvető. The renowned literary star gave book signings as well as a talk with translator Géza Morcsányi on her book Daniel Stein, Translator, recently published in Hungarian. She is the first female Guest of Honour to the Festival, where this year her works earned the Grand Budapest Prize.

 

Special guest writers were present from 23 including Sven Nordqvist from Sweden, Dragan Velikič from Serbia, Pavel Huelle from Poland, Martin Pollack from Austria, Robert Charles Wilson from Canada, van Boxsel from the Netherlands, Anne B. Ragde from Norway, Julia Otxoa and Eugenio Fuentes from Spain, and Tony Curtis premiering his memoir American Prince.

 

Already a prominent literary contributor at previous Festivals, Romania has aspired to become this year’s fully fledged Guest Country of Honor. The Festival was greeted at the opening ceremony by Romanian Minister of Culture Theodor Paleologu and President of Romanian Cultural Institute Mircea Mihăies. A range of internationally acclaimed authors were present including President of Romanian Writers’ Association Varujan Vosganian, Denisa Comănescu, Gabriel Liiceanu, Mircea Dinescu, Traian Ştef, Vasile Dan, Ioan Moldovan, Marius Vernescu, Bogdan Suceavă, Eginald Schlattner, Lucian Teodorovici and Filip Florian. Featured talks addressed the significance of translation, particularities of the contemporary Romanian novel, as well as Romanian and Hungarian poetesses discussing women’s poetry. The exceptionally rich Romanian program paraded over 30 events with live readings, art exhibits, theatre, jazz music and children’s activities.

 

Along with being a general expo, the 16th Book Festival featured some important themes this year, such as women writers and children’s literature. IBBY (International Board on Books for Young People) Awards for outstanding works went to writers János Lackfi, Ferenc Szijj, illustrator Rozi Békés, translator Zsolt Pacskovszky and a Lifetime Achievement award to Aliz Mosonyi. IBBY Hungary’s president Pál Békés noted triumphantly that while a decade ago one hardly had aught to choose from, this has changed considerably and award winners had to be picked from among a multitude of excellent books and writers.

 

Swedish children’s writer and illustrator Sven Nordqvist, best known by Hungarian children and parents for his Pettson and Findus series, gave book signings in the Children’s Literary Corner, where entries to the children’s drawing competition, "Findus was my Guest”, were on display.

 

The Festival is also affiliated with and venue to the European First Novel Festival, where Ferenc Vincze represented Hungary with his debuting book The Eye of the Cat beside 18 other European Union first novelists. As in previous years, the round-table discussions probed some of Europe’s foremost up-and-coming literary talent.

 

According to director Péter László Zentai, the Festival was bound to be a public success owing to this year’s "Gyermek(b)irodalom” (Children’s Literary Corner), and despite the financial crisis which had apparently avoided the book scene. Publishers and book dealers are allegedly coming to a compromise in their trading margin dispute, so an optimistic upswing may even be expected for the book industry in 2009 in the wake of further trade negotiations. Many Hungarian literary works are launched every spring to coincide with the Book Festival, with new books from János Háy, Szilárd Podmaniczky, Zoltán Kőrösi, Vilmos Csaplár, and many other contemporary Hungarian authors. Roughly 100 new releases are featured among an estimated fifty thousand books total on exhibit.