By Siobhan O’Leary BERLIN: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei had plans to temporarily relocate to Berlin when he was detained by police at Beijing airport on April 3rd and taken to an undisclosed location. When his latest exhibition opened at Galerie Neugerriemschneider as part of Berlin’s 7th annual Gallery Weekend earlier this month, the artist was [...]
“The publisher with the fly” takes a dive: Germany is abuzz with rumors that the Eichborn/Aufbau merger may be a bust. By Siobhan O’Leary When representatives of Eichborn Verlag and Aufbau Verlag held a press conference in Berlin in January to announce their intended collaboration and Eichborn’s anticipated move from Frankfurt to Berlin, it seemed that the [...]
By Edward Nawotka “I love you, now change,” is something we’ve all heard before in relationships. It’s likely that instead of actually being in love with the person as they are, you’re in love with the person as you imagine them to be. The desire to shape them into the perfect creature is not unreasonable. Illusion [...]
By Erin L. Cox On Wednesday, my colleague, Edward Nawotka, hosted a panel discussing book stunts, some of which we’ve previously chronicled on our site. From Chilean artists dropping poetry on Berlin to Eichborn’s fly promotion at the Frankfurt Book Fair to Jennifer Belle’s “laughter project” of actresses laughing at her novel on the subway, these stunts got [...]
At the Publishers’ Forum in Berlin earlier this month, it became clear that German publishers have no desire or need to rush into digital publishing. By Amanda DeMarco “It’s inevitable.” At the Publishers’ Forum hosted by digital services provider Klopotek in Berlin earlier this month, several versions of the phrase “Shape your own future!” cropped up in presentations. At first [...]
E-books have expanded the number of book readers in the US, but in Germany — where they already read a great deal of books — e-books might not make such a difference. By Edward Nawotka Germany’s strong print culture and dedication to reading paper books allow publishers to sustain and maintain many of their traditional practices, even [...]
By Hannah Johnson We publishing people have a special love for ink and paper, for the satisfaction of holding an object that we helped create. At the same time, we must also learn to embrace an increasingly digital future. Magazine publishers are also facing a rapidly changing industry in which more consumers want to get content online [...]
It’s difficult to find a Russian author of note who has not written for SNOB, billionaire Mikhail Prokorov’s luxury lit mag. By Daniel Kalder Going back to the 19th century literary journals have played an important role in Russian culture. Indeed, no lesser a figure than Dostoevsky edited not one, but two following his return from Siberian [...]
By Kathleen Sweeney As a BEA newbie, I hadn’t counted on being starstruck by a children’s book celebrity siting. I was strolling through the Penguin Books pavilion scanning books when there she was, Jan Brett, the author and illustrator extraordinaire, no less than a legend on my daughters’ bookshelves, passing out swag bags emblazoned with her [...]
By Erin L. Cox At BEA, “The Report of My Death Was Exaggerated — Book Edition” panel did just what the Mark Twain quote did years ago: chastise the media for being too quick to decree the death of print publishing. Though it’s difficult to ignore the e-books are selling like hotcakes, three publishers and one [...]
