Saving Face

In Feature Articles by Edward Nawotka

Editorial by Edward Nawotka Ever since the controversy surrounding the appearance of Chinese dissidents Bei Ling (貝嶺) and Dai Qing (戴晴) at the symposium “China and the World – Perceptions and Realities” last month, the media has pilloried the Frankfurt Book Fair, suggesting that the organization is compromising its values and support of free speech. What is disheartening to observe …

Global Trade Talk: NYPL’s 500,000 Books on Demand; China’s Big Media Ambitions; Lost Symbol in Spanish

In Global Trade Talk by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka On Friday, The New York Public library announced that it is offering half a million of its public domain titles on demand, via digital service provider Kirtas. What’s new about the model is that the library won’t have the book digitized, until a copy has actually been purchased in advance. “ New technology has allowed the Library …

German Buch News: Praise for Google Settlement Delay; Frankfurt as a Refuge

In German Buch News by Siobhan O'Leary

By Siobhan O’Leary The Börsenverein (German Publishers and Booksellers Association) and VG Wort held a press conference yesterday in Frankfurt to discuss the implications of the postponement of a Google Settlement “fairness hearing” originally scheduled for October. The Boersenblatt reports that Alexander Skipis, chief executive of the Boersenverein, was delighted about the rejection of the Settlement in its current state …

German Buch News: Uyghurs at FBF, Are Books Recession Proof?

In German Buch News, News by Siobhan O'Leary

By Siobhan O’Leary Die Welt reports that one of China’s daily newspapers, Huanjiu Shibao (Global Times), is sending a message to the organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair telling them there will be consequences if Rebiya Kadeer, the President of the World Uyghur Congress, attends the Fair as planned. The article also reportedly states that China was not only snubbed …

Bonus Material: Chinese Dissident Artist Ai Weiwei to Attend FBF

In Discussion by Edward Nawotka

By Edward Nawotka Spiegel reports that Chinese artist Ai Weiwei is now recovering in Munich from surgery to treat a brain injury likely linked to a beating he endured in Sichuan in August while reporting on the fatalities of school children in last year’s earthquake. We described this project in an earlier edition of Publishing Perspectives. Ai told Spiegel that …

German Buch News: New Frankfurt Statement; New Wireless eReader

In German Buch News, News by Siobhan O'Leary

By Siobhan O’Leary The Boersenblatt, Buchreport and BuchMarkt picked up another statement from Juergen Boos about the Guest of Honour China controversy, which was released online yesterday. In it, Boos reiterates that the Book Fair does not compromise on freedom of expression. He gives examples of several regime-critical figures from China who attend this year’s Fair, including Chinese Nobel Prize …

Dissidents and Officials Face Off at Frankfurt Book Fair’s China Symposium

In Feature Articles by Hannah Johnson

By Hannah Johnson FRANKFURT: A crowd of journalists swarmed around two slightly overwhelmed people on Saturday morning, September 12th at the Instituto Cervantes (the Spanish Cultural Institute) in Frankfurt, Germany. Chinese dissidents Bei Ling (貝嶺), a poet and journal editor, and Dai Qing (戴晴), an investigative journalist, had come to attend the much anticipated symposium, “China and the World – …