Beijing International Book Fair
ILE at the Beijing Book Fair
Ireland Literature Exchange attended the Beijing International Book Fair for the second year in a row. The fair proved particularly busy this year. ILE's director, Sinéad Mac Aodha, and programme & publications officer, Rita McCann, attended a one day conference on the publishing industry in China as well as hosting numerous meetings throughout the five-day fair.
ILE's team were pleased to meet with both old and new acquaintances from houses such as Shanghai 99 Readers' Culture Company, the People's Literature Publishing House, the Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press, Yilin Press, Hunan Literature and Art Publishing House and Penguin China.
The fair also offered ILE the opportunity to catch up with sister organisations such as the Foundation for Production and Translation of Dutch Literature and NORLA, ILE's Norwegian counterparts.
Author Colm Tóibín was in Beijing - and later Shanghai - for a series of press interviews to coincide with the launch of the Chinese translation of Brooklyn, and visited ILE's stand before speaking to journalists at the fair.
ILE was delighted to see that interest in Irish literature and culture in general remains high in China, and expects several new co-operations to emerge over the coming year.