Invitation
Dear Partners and Colleagues,
The International Book Festival Budapest, held for the 28th time in 2023, is a recognized event of the international book world, as one of the important professional and intellectual forums of the region. The Book Festival awaits its visitors at Millenáris, a venue which provides a rich cultural milieu, an innovative atmosphere, an even smarter exhibition area and very good accessibility.
The International Book Festival Budapest traditionally invites the most renowned authors of the world. The award ceremony of Budapest Grand Prize and the on-stage conversation with the prize-winner will be a special event of the upcoming Book Festival. This year we are delighetd to welcome John Scalzi, Hugo-prize winner American science fiction author, who will be the guest of honor in 2023.
Budapest Grand Prize gained its significance by the fact that it was presented to the most outstanding representatives of contemporary world literature: Ernst Jandl (1995), Ephraim Kishon (1996), Imre Kertész (1997), Salman Rushdie (1998), Victor Yerofeyev (1999), Sławomir Mrożek (2000), Robert Merle (2001), Lawrence Norfolk (2002), Mario Vargas Llosa (2003), Günter Grass (2004), Paulo Coelho (2005), Jorge Semprún (2006), Umberto Eco (2007), Bret Easton Ellis (2008), Ljudmila Ulickaja (2009), Amos Oz (2010), Per Olov Enquist (2011), Claudio Magris (2012), Michel Houellebecq (2013), Sofi Oksanen (2014), Jonathan Franzen (2015), Jostein Gaarder (2016), Orhan Pamuk (2017), Daniel Kehlmann (2018) and Karl Ove Knausgaard (2019), in 2022 Svetlana Alexievich received the award.
After the highly successful country of honour presentations of Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, France, Germany, Russia, Spain, Canada, China, Romania, Israel, the European Union, the Nordic Countries, Turkey, the Visegrad Four, in 2022 the highlight fell on Slovakia to introduce the literature and the publishing industry of the country. In 2023 the Festival will focus on the literature of the Netherlands.
The European First Novel Festival will be held for the 21st time within the frame of the Book Festival to introduce talented young authors from the members of the European Union. This event is a joint effort of 28 EU-member countries.
The International Book Festival Budapest hosts about 100 authors from 25 countries, more than 400 Hungarian authors, scientists and artists and offers a wide range of cultural programs, such as meetings with authors, book signing sessions, book premiers and presentations, roundtable discussions, concerts, theatre performances, exhibitions and films.
Gyerek(b)irodalom (Children’s Lit Kingdom) is organized especially for children to satisfy the interest and needs of young generations with promotion of children’s books and special programs for kids.
The Book Festival is also a professional and business forum where trade meetings, conferences and lectures are held on the key issues of the book market and of reading habits. Librarians’ Club, the professional event of librarians is one of the special features of the Book Festival.
The International Book Festival Budapest is a major fair with almost 200 exhibitors and 60.000 thousand visitors each year, presenting hundreds of new publications.
We hope that we can welcome you among the exhibitors of the 28th International Book Festival Budapest, to be held between 28th September and 1st October, 2023.
Hungarian Publishers and Booksellers Association