The 31st edition of the Turin
International Book Fair successfully kicked off on Thursday to
long lines and large crowds at the Lingotto convention centre.
The event, which runs through Monday, was inaugurated at a
ribbon-cutting ceremony by Turin Book Fair steering committee
chief Massimo Bray and director Nicola Lagioia, together with
Turin Mayor Chiara Appendino, Italian Culture Minister Dario
Franceschini, Italian Lower House Speaker Roberto Fico, Italian
Senate Speaker Maria Elisabetta Alberti Casellati, and president
of Italian broadcaster RAI Monica Maggioni.
This year's edition saw the debut of a new independent
publishers association, ADEI.
Bray said the fair's future and history "are and will remain
in Turin", and said the Milan book fair organised by the Italian
Publishers' Association AIE that took place this year for the
second time "was a mistake".
"(We must) foresee and identify changes and reflect on the
past. Turin must be the common home of this reflection," Bray
said.
Lagioia said 40 countries are participating in this year's
edition, and said the fair makes Turin "one of the capitals of
world culture" for the five days that it takes place.
"The long lines and the big writers excite me," Lagioia said.
"The Turin Book Fair isn't just the home of Italian
publishing, but it's also a great laboratory," he said, just
prior to the inaugural 'lectio magistralis' on Europe by Spanish
writer Javier Cercas.
Cercas said a "truly united Europe represents the only
possibility to stem the blind and all-encompassing power of the
economy".
"The great challenge is that of reconciling cultural
diversity, which is a great asset, with political unity," he
said.
Mayor Appendino said this edition looks to be "the best
ever".
"There's no Turin without the International Book Fair, and no
International Book Fair without Turin," she said.
However, the conflict over whether there will be two Italian
book fairs, one in Turin and Milan, remains.
Bray said the decision was made to tackle "the supplier
problem" after the fair, together with Appendino and Piedmont
Governor Sergio Chiamparino.
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