Italy to be guest of honour for the 2022 edition: announced by director Radovan Auer.

Italy at Book World Prague 2022

Italy will be the guest of honour at the 2022 edition of Book World Prague (Svet knihy), which will borrow its main theme from the title of a work by Umberto Eco on the experience and theory of translation, ‘Dire quasi la stessa cosa’ (Saying Almost the Same Thing), published by Bompiani in 2003.
This was announced a few days ago by Radovan Auer, the festival director, at the end of a highly applauded meeting between the festival audience and the Italian writer Sandro Veronesi, who came to Prague to present the Czech translation of ‘Il colibrì’. The many guests attending included the director of the Italian Cultural Institute of Prague, Alberta Lai, who promoted the Italian candidacy.
‘I am very pleased with this announcement, moreover made in the presence of of one of the most profound and respected contemporary Italian writers, Sandro Veronesi. In 2022, the Institute I direct will celebrate the 100th anniversary of its foundation and the programme that we will offer at Book World Prague will reflect the great importance of this event,” commented Ms Lai.
Svet knihy Praha is the most important book festival in the Czech Republic. In the last few editions before the pandemic, the four-day event averaged 50,000 visitors, 400 exhibitors, 800 guests and 650 accompanying programmes per event.
Despite the restrictions for containing the COVID emergency, according to figures just released by the organizers, the 2021 edition of the fair boasts 34,000 visitors, 288 exhibitors, 607 guests and 481 programmes, with the addition of 11 exhibitions; 27 countries took part.