Radio Romania Gaudeamus Caravan

The Gaudeamus Caravan, the travelling book fair organized by Radio Romania, ended in Iasi

Roxana Vasile, 07.10.2019, 13:50

The Gaudeamus
Caravan, the travelling book fair organized by Radio Romania, ended on Sunday,
in Iasi, in eastern Romania. The last day of the caravan, which reached the
city of Iasi for the first time, was marked by an award ceremony for the
publishers and books voted by the public. Ranking first was Humanitas
Publishers, which got the Gaudeamus Trophy. Second and third came the Editorial
Art Group and Trei Publishers. The ‘Warrior Cats’ by Erin Hunter, published by
ALL was voted the most popular book of the edition.

The other awards granted on
the last day of the caravan included the Press Trophy, the Mircea Nedelciu
reading contest, devoted to high-school students, the Miss Literature prize,
which went to the most beautiful visitor or the contest devoted to those who
followed the event on Facebook. For five days, some 30 publishers from across
the country exhibited in a mobile exhibition pavilion the most recent books in
Romanian. The offer included classical writings, best-sellers of the moment,
fiction and specialized books, lots of educational games and also good music.

The visitors to the Gaudeamus Caravan also had the opportunity to donate books,
part of the campaign run by Radio Romania with the aim of gathering books for
several libraries across the country. The Gaudeamus Caravan project emerged 25
years ago, and for 20 years it has been travelling around the main cultural and
university centers where Radio Romania has local and regional stations. This
year, for instance, the Caravan first stopped in Craiova, in the south, then in
Transylvania, in Cluj-Napoca, and in May in Oradea, in the west of the country.
Then it travelled to Timisoara, also in the west, and, before reaching the last
location, Iasi, it went to the Black Sea Coast, to Mamaia, but also to Brasov,
in the centre of the country.

The President – Director General of the Romanian
Broadcasting Corporation, Georgica Severin, has announced that, in the future,
the Gaudeamus Caravan might also travel to Chisinau, in the Republic of
Moldova, which has a predominantly Romanian-speaking population. What is for
sure next is that, between November 20-24, Radio Romania will organize the 26th
Gaudeamus Book Fair, which is the peak of Romania’s editorial and cultural
year. The participants will include some 300 Romanian and foreign publishers,
printing houses, education institutions, cultural centers and institutes, media
institutions, book distributors, multimedia companies, literary agencies,
cultural NGOs, professional associations, book stores and libraries.