The Bookfest International Book Fair

An outlook on the Bookfest International Book Fair held in Bucharest.

Corina Sabău, 24.08.2013, 12:00

The Bookfest International Book Show was held in Bucharest in early June. More than 90 thousand people visited the Show, which was hosted by the Romexpo exhibition compound located in Northern Bucharest. At the eighth edition of the Show, the publishing houses taking part in the event had on offer around one million volumes and the 200 exhibitors included some of Romania’s leading publishers and book distributors. Nora Iuga, Neagu Djuvara, Lucian Boia, Radu Beligan and Emil Hurezeanu are some of the major authors who saw their new volumes launched at Bookfest 2013, alongside 24 other authors and book professionals who were introduced by Bookfest’s guest of honor, the “ trio” made up of Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Bogdan Suceava’s “ Memoirs of an Ideal Library” was brought out by the Polirom Publishers in Bucharest. The essays highlight ideas of long gone scientists like Huygens, Newton, Meusnier, Euler, Sophie Germain, also introducing people who had an impact on Bogdan Suceava’s subsequent intellectual progress. Rounding off the picture are icons of mathematics at the University of Bucharest, such as Gheorghe Titeica, Dan Barbilian, Nicolae Teodorescu. “ Above all, I saw myself as a problem solver. Back then it was all clear to me that the most salient expression of intelligence should be the identification of a specific solution, an optimal one, be it literature or mathematics”, Bogdan Suceava wrote in “ Memoirs of an Ideal Library”. We asked the author who currently is a professor at the California State University what he thought a specific solution would be, as far as literature was concerned.

Bogdan Suceava: “ If we talk about writing a novel, the literary solution as such starts off with the narrator’s voice, with the selection of the moment when the story ends, the selection of a carefully thought-out ending. Also, you need to think of the characters at stage and at the climax of the story. All of those mean a literary solution, and it is not that simple to work with a lot of characters, yet this time I had the opportunity to give an account, in my book, of how the things we get to learn in mathematics end up helping us in other areas of cultural life as well, in literature, in particular. These memoirs are not a volume of recollections as such.”

“If the dream of purebred mathematicians is to demonstrate theorems that should bear their name, my dream was to be able to understand up to their ultimate consequences not only certain mathematical ideas but also where those ideas stem from, their historical affiliation, their progress in time, “ Bogdan Suceava also writes.

“Nora Iuga wrote her volume in Vienna in spring last year. Only initiates can grasp its meaning, only those who love and admire her, only authentic readers of poetry. This is the Cartea Romaneasca Publishers’ blurb for “The Wet Dog is a Willow Tree”. Speaking now about the poems in the volume is critic and poet Radu Vancu.

Radu Vancu: “For me it is a great joy to be able to speak about Nora Iuga and about that book. Nora Iuga is a model for me in many respects and what makes me happy is her extraordinary vitality, all the more so since it runs counter to the statistics whereby the Romanian writer seems to be rather inconsistent, rather short-lived, deprived of vitality. Among the most vital persons in Romanian literature today are women writers such as Nora Iuga, Angela Marinescu, Ileana Malancioiu. Now, returning to Nora Iuga, she seems to be working wonders, so to speak. To me it seems extraordinary to have a book or two published each year, poetry, prose, diary, all written with the same audacity and acumen, with the author always trying to reinvent herself. Who reinvents herself or himself at the age of eighty? Well, Nora Iuga performs a real tour de force.”

The art album dedicated to “Corneliu Baba” was authored by art critic Pavel Susara. It was brought out by the Official Gazette Independent Company’s Publishing House. Presenting it at Bookfest was art critic Tudor Octavian. Fine artist Corneliu Baba known particularly for his portraits, is considered “a painter of man.” His portraits have prompted critics to liken Baba to Francisco Goya. The Timisoara Art Museum’s Baba Collection includes 90 items among which several paintings brought from Bucharest City History and Art Museum and the National Art Museum. Speaking now is art critic Pavel Susara.

Pavel Susara:“In this book I did not try to capture or pedagogically set forth what interested me most, but to come up with three perspectives on an artist’s work. First off, there is a contextual overview, since painter Corneliu Baba is not alone in the world of fine arts. Then I sought to trace in his work all the great experiences of a century. And finally I made an attempt to reach the gray areas, the place where a special kind of reading is needed, the insightful kind, a kind of galvanizing reading, at once providing coherence and credibility to the world Corneliu Baba created.”

“Three Countries, the Same Language” is a project that brought together at Bookfest more than 20 German-speaking guests: publishers, writers, authors of books for children and young people, book illustrators, philosophers, marketing and communication experts, translators, as well as two hip-hop poets. More details on that- from Oana Boca, PR Officer for Headsome Communication, a partner in the project “ Three Countries, the Same Language”.

Oana Boca:“I believe it came out fine and when I say that I’ m thinking of the reactions we’ve got from those who visited us. I‘ve heard that from lots of visitors, saying that for the first time ever that they managed to grasp an impression of the guest countries, and that was visible in town and at our stand as well. But apart from those opinions, sale figures are relevant too. I have just checked with Polirom Publishers, where Catalin Dorian Florescu’s “Jacob Decides to Die” is in the runner-up position in the sale chart. Likewise, with the Curtea Veche Publishers, Uwe Tellkamp’s novel saw record sale figures. At the same time, at Humanitas Publishers’ Humanitas Fiction Collection Jan Koneffke’s book is 2nd placed in the overall sale chart.”

“An event which was on the up-and-up”, “a fantastic experience” those were the organizers’ conclusions, at the end of the couple of dozens of events held as part of the project which ran under the heading ”Three Countries, the Same language: Germany, Austria and Switzerland — guests of honor at Bookfest 2013.”