After years of preparation, Slovenia is finally ready. At Tuesday’s official opening in Frankfurt, it assumed its position as Guest of Honour at the biggest book fair in the world. Thousands of media representatives and visitors will be invited to visit the Slovenian pavilion, the Honeycomb of Words. This marks the beginning of Slovenia’s biggest-ever cultural event abroad, the Frankfurt Book Fair.
At the fair by the River Main, Slovenia will appear under the motto Honeycomb of Words with a total of 250 events featuring more than 75 Slovenian authors focusing on the topics of poetry, philosophy and reading in the age of screens. With visitors and exhibitors from over 120 countries, hosting the fair is a feat comparable to staging the Planica Ski Flying competition in Slovenian sports. Following Poland and Russia, Slovenia is only the third Slavic country to have been granted this opportunity. We would have to wait 50 years for another one.
Slovenia will be promoted at several fair venues. The main pavilion is 2,400 square metres in size, bigger than the first editions of the entire Slovenian Book Fair. The book fair is expected to be covered by 6,400 media representatives, 60% focusing on the Guest of Honour, mainly books or stories related to Slovenia. And stories are at the core of everything. If we want to make someone excited by something, we need to tell them a good story.
