It is inaugurated on Tuesday night and lasts the 77th Frankfurt International Book Fair until Sunday. The prosperity of the numbers and the struggle of the Greek book. Mainly as always the Frankfurt Book Exhibition: 4,300 exhibitors from more than 90 countries, as well as at least 200,000 visitors. The heart of the exhibition is traditionally the sale of copyright, while ideas, trends, novels are danced around Mamonas. The Greek publishers are raised in the Greek stand, two of our fairy tales, Manos Kontoleon and Kyriakos Charitos arrive with their childhood in Mecca of the book.

The honored country this year is the Philippines and their non -existent literature. In what sense non -existent? The Philippine, the tongue language that is spoken in the capital Manila and the surroundings, has been declared an official language, but in essence it is a language of a minority. The Philippines and 134 spoken languages ​​have 116 million inhabitants. Within this Babel the authors prefer to write in the second official language, English. In other words, it is a branch of English -speaking literature this year.

Translators take action

A Greek presence in the German book market is of course, this year, except Greek kiosk. Slowly, the translators themselves take on the lead role in the movement of the Greek book abroad. In 20 German houses, translator Elena Palladza was abducted, one sting, the young Schiler & Mücke, who released Kostas Mavroudi’s “Immortality of Dogs” this year.

And Petros Markari’s translator Michael Princer has discovered an idealist publisher, Katarina Vicht, who recently opened the Parrhesia house in Berlin. Which will be honestly released by the book by Telemachus Kotsia’s “China Ink”. But translator Peter Constantein is also involved in the release of Cypriot poetic collection Helen Kefala “Chronicles” by the Freigeist’s imaginative house, even for the time being a second book. All this in spite of state announcements, official lips, beeful promises of the book that leads nowhere.

Maikonas and the translator

Let us honor the essential action today with another example. Some time ago, two German Greek -born gossiping at a Berlin tavern. They had both studied in the fifty decade at the German School of Athens. That night, former banker Berd von Malcan, the son of an ancient Knight and noble family from Mecklebourg, was confused with an idea of ​​former diplomat and translator Ulph Dieter Clem.

Fund a better translation award from Greek to German. And to be awarded a two -year period in Pentslin, Melburg, a medieval town, where the 18th century was acted upon by the 18th century Johann Heinrich Fos, a Homeric translator in German, the selected and “Greek Greek”. Epic, a work. This year the Fos Award is awarded to Doris Wile for the translation of Katerina Schina’s book “Good and upside down. The Knitting Culture ‘published in 2022 by the Mediterranean language specialized in the Language Languages.