At Frankfurter Buchmesse, 2014. Image: FBM, Alexander Heimann
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
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Frankfurt ‘Stands for Diversity and Freedom of Literature’
The Julius Campe Prize is awarded by the German publisher Hoffmann und Campe, and—as announced today (August 31)—it goes this year to Frankfurter Buchmesse, for services to literature. The 74th edition of Frankfurt Book Fair is set, as Publishing Perspectives readers know, to run October 19 to 23.
The honor is named for publisher Julius Campe (1792-1867), who is credited with discovering Heinrich Heine and with being what the publishing house today describes as “the epitome of the idealistic publisher who combines the joy of literary discovery with social commitment.”
Campe was a leading proponent of the Young Germany movement, which was recognized from about 1830 to 1850 and reflected elements of such movements in Italy, France, Ireland, and the United States. Writers central to the movement in Germany included Heine, Georg Büchner, Ludolf Wienbarg, and Heinrich Laube.
The Julius Campe Prize can go either to a person or to an institution deemed to have provided outstanding services in literary criticism and communication. An award ceremony for the accolade is to be held during the trade show this year (October 19 to 23) in the Frankfurt Pavilion on the Agora at the center of Messe Frankfurt, though details of a date and time are, as yet, unknown.
Tim Jung: ‘A Deeply Democratic Event’
The announcement today is led by Tim Jung, Hoffmann und Campe’s publishing director, who is quoted, saying, “In 1949, 205 booksellers gathered in the Paulskirche for the first German book fair of the post-war period.
Tim Jung
“On the foundation of a trade fair tradition that goes back centuries, they founded today’s Frankfurter Buchmesse, which brings the international book industry to Germany and at the same time carries German literature out into the world. The Frankfurt Book Fair stands for the diversity and freedom of literature and for the value of reading.
“Regardless of the restrictions associated with the coronavirus pandemic over the past two years, it’s still the world’s most important forum for literature and its actors, and at the same time a marketplace, shop window, stage, and a place for debates, which the fair reliably and again and again produces.
“In addition, as an international event,” Jung says, “Frankfurter Buchmesse is an indispensable guarantor of attention for books—and at the same time a deeply democratic event the genuine spirit of which is shaped by its participants. Frankfurter Buchmesse translates stories, ideas, arguments, and opinions into a social experience and is therefore of outstanding importance for communicating and understanding the literatures of our world.”
Juergen Boos: ‘An Acknowledgment of the Word We Do’
Frankfurter Buchmesse president and CEO Juergen Boos, in his recognition of the Campe Prize for the world’s largest book publishing trade show, points as Jung does to the challenges of the still-ongoing pandemic and the central responsibilities of the show in the world industry.
Juergen Boos
“Frankfurter Buchmesse is greatly honored to receive the Julius Campe Prize,” Boos says, “especially after two years of a pandemic that made holding the fair close to impossible.
“On behalf of our entire team, I would like to thank Tim Jung and Thomas Ganske, publisher and CEO of Ganske Verlagsgruppe. Everyone at Frankfurter Buchmesse views this honor as an acknowledgement of the work we do. The Julius Campe Prize recognizes individuals and institutions that have ‘rendered outstanding services to literary criticism and literary communication.’
“Frankfurter Buchmesse,” Boos says, “has been fulfilling this task in a variety of ways for almost 75 years–through activities at numerous international book fairs, through fellowship programs, and through the activities of Litprom and LitCam. The award aptly honors the special role Frankfurter Buchmesse plays for the German and international book and media industry.”
Past Recipients of the Julius Campe Prize
- 2019: Mara Delius
- 2018: Christian Petzold
- 2017: State Minister Monika Grütters
- 2016: The Literature House network
- 2015: Denis Scheck
- 2014: The booksellers cooperative 5 Plus
- 2013: Felicitas von Lovenberg
- 2012: Petra Roth
- 2011: Roger Willemsen
- 2010: Elke Heidenreich
- 2009: Elisabeth Niggemann
- 2008: Wendelin Schmidt-Dengler (posthumously)
- 2007: Klaus Reichert
- 2006: Michael Naumann
- 2005: Jan Philipp Reemtsma
- 2004: Joachim Kaiser
- 2003: Heinrich Detering
- 2002: Martin Walser
This is the 151st awards-related report that Publishing Perspectives has carried in the 161 days since our 2022 operations began on January 3.
Hoffmann und Campe’s campus at Hamburg. Image: Jourdan & Müller Steinhauser, GmbH
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here, more on the German book and publishing market is here, and more on book fairs and trade shows in the world publishing industry is here, and more from us on book and publishing awards in the international industry is here.
More from us on the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on international book publishing is here