The Gaudeamus Radio Romania Book Fair is under way

The 26th edition of the Gaudeamus International Book and Education Fair kicked off on Wednesday in Bucharest.

Ştefan Stoica, 20.11.2019, 13:50

Gaudeamus Book Fair is a nation-wide project initiated by Radio Romania in 1994, with a view to supporting national culture through book and education exhibitions. In the last 26 years, more than 116 book fairs have been organized across the country with over 13,600 events and more than 3 million visitors. Radio Romania is the only radio broadcaster in the world to implement such a cultural project, being national leader in the field.

The 26th edition of the fair started on Wednesday. Around 900 events are being held during the 5-day fair. This year, the Gaudeamus will be held under the auspices of the anniversary of 30 years since the Romanian Revolution of 1989. Poet Mircea Dinescu, who openly opposed the dictatorial regime, and actor Ion Caramitru, are honorary co-presidents of the fair.

Mircea Dinescu: “This book fair truly is a great accomplishment and the fact that it is growing by the year and stirs such enthusiasm is truly amazing. In a country where not only culture but also reading should be very important, in the sense that it is regrettable that young people do no longer go to libraries as they used to and that libraries were shot down in most small towns, there is, however, an impressive number of book launches and we can talk about professional readers. I would not hail professional readers though, rather the ones who discover or rediscover books.”

There are 250 exhibitors at Gaudeamus 2019, a strong and well defined group of Romanian publishing houses, education institutions, producers and distributors of educational games, professional associations and organizations active in the field of culture and education, who come to the fair every year. Adding to these are the first-time participants. The Gaudeamus trophies will be awarded to three exhibitors alongside the award for the Most Wanted Book of the fair, based on the votes of the readers. The Excellency Prize will be granted to one of the publishing houses taking part in the fair and is aimed at totally or partially covering the cost of a comprehensive project of national importance. Prizes will also be awarded for translation, education and also for the most beautiful visitor of the fair.

(Translated by Elena Enache)