Against a backdrop of far-reaching changes in Israeli publishing and book industry, and the sale of bookstore chain Steimatzky Ltd. to Markstone Capital Partners Group LLC, 25 Israeli publishers are participating in the 57th Frankfurt Book Fair. 9,000 publishers from around the world are participating. The Israeli publishers are based in the national pavilion set up by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute.
Israel’s printing and publishing exports grew by 9% in 2004 to $45 million, half of which were books.
To mark the 40th anniversary of Israeli-German diplomatic relations, this year’s Frankfurt BNNook Fair will include a special exhibit adjacent to the Israeli pavilion, called “Writing the Bible”. Under this project, any person can write a Bible verse in his or her native language, and participate in writing the Bible in every language in the world. Each participant will receive a certificate. The Bibles in different languages will be displayed at a Bible building to be built in the Adulam region in Israel. In addition, there will be two displays of selected children’s drawings from the “Children of the World Illustrate the Bible” project
During the fair, German Federal Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer, German author Miriam Pressler and German children’s literature researcher Winifried Kaminiski and Israeli authors David Grossman and Dorit Orgad, and Prof. Zohar Shavit are scheduled to hold a public audience on children’s literature.
Participating Israeli publishers at this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair include Schocken Publishing House Ltd., The Jerusalem Publishing House Ltd., Israel Museum Products Ltd., The Institute for the Translation of Hebrew Literature, Yediot Ahronot Ltd., the Ministry of Defense, Am Oved Publishers Ltd., the Adam Institute, Saar Publishing House Ltd., Astrolog Publishing House, Xargol Books, Sifriyat Poalim Publishing House Ltd., Hakibbutz Hameuhad Publishing House Ltd., K Dictionaries Ltd., Keshatot Arts, Dar Al Huda, Midreshet Morasha, and the Gishrei Tarbut Association.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 20, 2005