PRESS RELEASE: A thousand performers at the Helsinki Book Fair

For the four days of the Book Fair over 1000 performers will be on the fair stages and there will be almost 700 program events. There are almost 300 exhibitors and around 300 program events staged by publishers, book shops and various societies.

The theme of the Fair is based on the collection of poetry What is really happening  by Pentti Saarikoski , published in 1962.  The theme gets to the heart of the question of the essence of literature. Literature, both fiction and non-fiction, reflects today’s world, tells where we are heading, re-evaluates the past and gives signposts to the future.

Minister of Labour and poet, Anni Sinnemäki , and Swedish Minister of Culture, Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth , will open the Book Fair on Thursday 22.10 at 11 am on the Aleksis Kivi Stage. As part of the opening ceremony we will hear part of M. A. Numminen’s musical work Svenskans kraft . At the end of the programme the Finnish Fair Foundations prize For Love of the Book   will be awarded.

For the first time the Helsinki Exhibition and Convention Centre cultural offerings will be complemented with the Helsinki Music Fair. Wine, Food and the Good Living will be organized in parallel with Book Fair for the third time.

Theme country Sweden

Sweden has been named as the Book Fair theme country in celebration of the Anniversary year 1809 . Sweden has 160 square meters of display space in which there are 27 show exhibitors, publishers and societies. More than 30 Swedish writers of fiction and non-fiction as well as social movers and shakers will be taking part.

Sweden will be on show in a broad and multi-faceted context. Detective writers will be prominent, of course, and will be represented by not only the likes of Jens Lapidus and Johan Theorin but also by newcomers such as Sara Paborn , well-know prose writers such as Ernst Brunner and  Per Olov Enquist , and researchers in different fields, including Kjell Östberg .
The Anniversary Year 1809 will be looked at on the basis of new works by both Finnish and Swedish historians. Those involved in the Sweden discussion will include Professor Torkel Jansson .

The Prime Minister´s Office will also be involved and will tell of the Anniversay Year 1809 project.

Seminars will attempt to throw light on Swedish society. Finns and Swedes will together ponder how to make a cultural magazine that people want to read. Yrsa Stenius and Pekka Hyvärinen examine new challenges for freedom of speech and ethical question faced by the media. Sweden’s and Finland’s respective Ministers of Culture Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth and Stefan Wallin discuss the future of cultural policy.

What is really happening

The Book Fair will give a comprehensive overview of current Finnish literature. Two hundred or so prose writers will be appearing at the Fair. Many writers being published for the first time will come to surprise us yet – they, too, are about twenty. At poetry-non-stop on Friday afternoon we will hear what happens in a poem, and whether there is room in the world for aphorisms.

The daily theme on the Katri Vala stage is The Individual in Focus . Centre stage is what goes on in the human mind, with subjects including intimate relationships, children, lack of consideration, creativity, well-being and multiculturalism.

On Saturday in this anniversary year of Darwin we will hear, under the title Things Are Happening in Science , the latest word from researchers on evolution. On Sunday in The year of astronomy we will be looking for life and wonders in the universe.

In the Aino and Kullervo Halls themes for discussion and seminars include recent history, literature, nature, politics and art.

Russian Federation at the Book Fair for the first time

Russian Federation will be taking part in the Book Fair for the first time and a joint forum will present Russian literature. Guests will include Russian writers Andrei Astvachaturov and Herman Sadulaev as well as well know children’s books translator Lyudmila Braude whose translations into Russian include the works of Tove Jansson. Also the State St Petersburg Museum of History and the Institute for Russia and Eastern Europe will join in to present Russian culture.

Writers from eight countries will be attending the Fair. Estonia is impressively involved with new Estonian poetry and music performed by lyricists and musicians. Likewise, several writers from Germany will be arriving.

Exhibition of photography by I.K. Inha

The exhibition “Helsinki – City of Light, I.K. Inha’s photographs of early 20th century Helsinki” will be on show during the time of the Book Fair next to the Mika Walteri stage. The exhibition photographs, brought to us by publisher WSOY, were shown for the very first time last spring.

Also on display at the Book Fair is the Dancing Moomintroll Valley exhibition comprised of exhibits from the Tampere Museum of Art. On view at the Antiquarian Book Fair in department 6k79 is an exhibition put together by Finland’s Antiquarian Society called Tight Lines – Will they bite? The Ex Libris Aboensis Company’s Ex libris exhibition can be found in department 6r69 next to the Takauma stage. Finnish writers’ medals are on display in department 6r43. Suomen Numismaatinen yhdistys is behind this exhibition.

Further information

Tuula Isoniemi, Book Fair Program Leader, tel. 0500 841 937, tuula.isoniemi@welho.com  
The Finnish Fair Corporation, Communications officer Vilja Perttola, tel. 040 755 3319, vilja.perttola(at)finnexpo.fi

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Helsinki Book Fair 2009
The Helsinki Book Fair is one of the country’s most important cultural events, in recent years attracting nearly as many as 70 000 visitors. The Book Fair is organized by The Finnish Fair Corporation in a conjunction with the Finnish Book Publishers Association and the Organization of the Booksellers Association of Finland. The fairgoers can attend also Helsinki Music Fair and Wine, Food & Good living at the same time.
Helsinki Book Fair 2009. www.helsinkibookfair.fi