• Bookfest Timișoara 2025
  • 27 - 30 March

The Republic of Moldova is present at Bookfest 2024

 

This year, the Republic of Moldova is the guest country of honor of the book fair

 

The 17th edition of the Bookfest International Book Fair, the only event of the Romanian publishing industry that managed to acquire a significant international dimension, held this year during May 29 – June 2, offers readers a Special Guest of Honor. It is about the Republic of Moldova, the cultural and editorial space with which we share the same language and with which we have the most connections both in terms of production, promotion and distribution of book.

Precisely for this reason, the presence of the Republic of Moldova at Bookfest 2024 is a sign of the closeness and special relationship between the two countries. “I embrace you, Republic of Moldova” is the slogan proposed by the invited country, an expression often found in current speech in the linguistic and cultural space across the Prut, the equivalent of the phrase “I hug you”.

„The invitation addressed to the Republic of Moldova came as a natural continuation of the excellent relations we share with our colleagues across the Prut, including on the occasion of the six editions of Bookfest Chisinau already held there. But we also share many of the problems of the book market, starting from the limited audience and the lack of a decent distribution infrastructure. We hope that this Bookfest 2024 will be a chance for firm steps on a common road that we want to be as bright as possible, declared Grigore Arsene, President of the Romanian Publishers Association >.

Nationally specific, but also an emotional bridge to the Romanian cultural and editorial space, the motto “I embrace you, Republic of Moldova” is the umbrella that brings together the < strong>almost 40 events from the program of the country invited to this year's edition of the Bookfest Book Fair. A rich program, which includes events with a diverse architecture: from book launches to debates on the most current topics.

„It is a privilege and a great joy to be, for the first time, a country of honor at the Bookfest International Book Fair in Bucharest. The biggest and most important publishing event in the Romanian language opens its arms and heart wide for a literary community that, in the same way, creates in the Romanian language – the one from the Republic of Moldova. But even more valuable is the chance offered to the reading public these days: that of discovering, through the authors present or through the pages of a book, a literature which, being "over the border", is at the same time so close and so alive. Because she is Romanian, just like the world she tells about.

Today, through books and culture, we take another step towards finding our nation, towards rebuilding the destroyed bridges, to forget that we are a whole. I firmly believe that Bookfest 2024 will give a creative boost to our literature and, at the same time, will motivate Romanian readers to cross the Prut. Through book pages, but also live, to say, as the slogan of our presence at Bookfest 2024 sounds, "I embrace you, Republic of Moldova", testified Sergiu Prodan, Minister of Culture, Republic of Moldova Moldova.

The list of Moldovan authors who will be present at the Bookfest includes well-known writers, poets and prose writers representing several generations, as well as important names in the field of non-fiction. The great poet and author of books for children Vasile Romanciuc, the well-known poet, essayist and publicist Arcadie Suceveanu, Oleg Serebrian – writer, political scientist, diplomat and politician, Iulian Ciocan – one of the most translated Romanian authors, the writer, journalist and translator Emilia Galaicu-Păun, the poet and playwright Dumitru Crudu, the well-known writers and publicists Vitalie Ciobanu and Maria Pilchin, the writer and editor Gheorghe Erizanu, Moni Stănilă and Alexandru Vakulovski – bridge writers between Romania and the Republic of Moldova are on the guest list. Also, a consistent number of representatives of the new generation of writers from the Republic of Moldova will be present at Bookfest 2024, names such as: Ion Buzu, Valentina Șcerbani, Alex Bordian, Alex Popescu, Paula Erizanu, Dinu Guțu, Emanuela Iurkin, Alex Cosmescu, Sașa Zare or Dumitru Fanfarov.

The list of participants in the events organized by the country invited of honor is completed by a series of writers born in the Republic of Moldova who settled and experienced success in Romania: Vasile Ernu, Liliana Corobca, Dinu Guțu, Cătălina Bălan, Diana Iepure, together with important Romanian authors.

The entire program of events and the list of participants will be made public in the official press conference, organized the week before the event, on May 23, 11:00 a.m., at the Humanitas Bookstore in Cișmigiu.

Visual of the Republic of Moldova at Bookfest as guest of honor capitalizes on the creation of the beloved Bessarabian plastic artist Glebus Sainciuc (1919-2012), known especially for his collection of masks from papier mâché and author of several painting and graphic works distinguished by the originality of the style.

His creation is both the basis of the stand graphics, as well as the creation of a smultimedia patio where projections will run on based on Glebus Sainciuc's drawings, created within the Museums of the Future initiative exhibited at the National Museum of Romanian Literature in Chisinau: 12 animated projections in a story that creates an immersive experience that readers will be able to follow from throughout the five days of the book fair.

The stand of the Republic of Moldova as guest of honor will be placed in the central area of Pavilion B2 at Romexpo. Îin the more than 200 square meters, Bookfest 2024 visitors will have the opportunity to discover a rich book offer: fiction, non-fiction books, art books, books for children and youth, as well as a selection of rare books, old from the ‘60s-’80s. The events of the Guest Country of Honor will take place both at the official stand and in special places within the Bookfest International Book Fair. Details about the events of the Country invited by Honor, constantly updated, on bookfest.ro.

The presence of the Republic of Moldova as Guest of Honor at Bookfest 2024 is ensured by the Government of the Republic of Moldova. Strategic partners: USAID, the Swedish Embassy and the British Embassy in Chisinau.