World's biggest book fair kicks off

The biggest book fair in the world has opened in Germany, with Indian authors taking centre stage.

The 58th Frankfurt Book Fair is bringing together a record 7,272 exhibitors from more than 100 countries.

It is spotlighting India this year as its guest country, with a packed program of readings and debates.

More than 70 Indian authors have arrived in the German financial capital for a broad cultural showcase that will also feature dance, drama, films and live yoga demonstrations.

Even the left-leaning national daily Tageszeitung has got into the mood, printing Wednesday's masthead in Hindi.

Mahasweta Devi, an 80-year-old grand dame of Indian literature, says the fair will have to struggle to capture the endless contradictions and breathtaking pace of change in her country.

"India has learned to survive, to adapt, to keep the old with the modern, to walk hand in hand with the new millennium, whistling a tune from the dawn of time," she told a gala opening ceremony.

"Culture is what will take us into the future, yet keep us in close contact with our roots, our history, our tradition, our heritage."

Amitav Gosh, Amit Chaudhuri and Kiran Desai, who is shortlisted for this year's Man Booker prize, are among the Indian writers who will present their work at the event.

Literary stars to be holding forth in Frankfurt including Zadie Smith, Donna Leon, Ken Follett and German Nobel laureate Guenter Grass, fresh from a scandal over his late revelation that he served in the Nazis' feared Waffen SS force during World War II.

The boom in electronic publishing will also be in focus this year, as well as concerns posed by Internet search engine Google's practice of posting scanned pages from books online, which has landed it in hot water with publishers and authors.

A new system is set to be unveiled at the event on Friday that would allow publishing houses to safeguard their copyrights by attaching conditions to reproduce content found online.

The fair will also feature a "Berlinale" day in honour of the Berlin International Film Festival held each February.

The aim of the event, which will feature screenings of a number of recent films based on novels, is to promote book fairs as prime hunting ground for Hollywood producers scouting new material.

The book fair is expected to draw about 280,000 visitors before closing on Sunday.

- AFP