Organized by TÜYAP Fairs and Exhibitions Organization Inc., the nine-day fair hosted 550 Turkish and foreign publishing houses and nongovernmental organizations showcasing their publications.The fair featured 297 events, including book signings, panel discussions, workshops and children’s activities, in which writers from both Turkey and overseas took part. Bestselling American fiction writer Adam Fawer, French novelist Olivier Rolin and Dutch writer Geert Mak were among the 51 foreign writers who attended this year’s fair, the Anatolia news agency reported.
Turkish poet, literary translator and drama critic Cevat Çapan was the writer of honor at this year’s fair, whose theme was “Translation in intercultural dialogues.”
The İstanbul Book Fair first opened its doors to readers in 1982 at the old TÜYAP Trade Center in Taksim. In 1987 the fair was moved to the TÜYAP Center in Tepebaşı and in 2002 to its current location in Beylikdüzü, which offers a 30,000-square-meter exhibition area. Twenty-eight publishers took part in the fair’s inaugural edition, while this number has exceeded 500 in the last decade.
