It will be weeks before we know the full impact of Canada’s presence as guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair this year. After such an event, foreign publishers take the time to contact the authors who have caught their attention. But as the festivities ended on Sunday, some authors have already done very well there.
This is the case of the author Michel Jean, who aroused a lot of interest from the Germans with his book Kukum. “Michel was a guest of honor in Frankfurt. But the media attention he got was something really, really impressive, says his Librex editor, Marike Paradis. It is thanks to his talent as a writer, but also to the fact that Michel is an exceptional communicator who works in the media world. He is not stressed by the camera and has great fluidity. There is also the fact that he is an Aboriginal person in a context where we talk a lot about land claims. “
The Canadian delegation, which should initially have 60 authors, finally brought together only eight, including five from Quebec. This situation linked to the pandemic ensured that the eight authors present shared a great deal of media attention, notes Marike Paradis.
“I did almost all the major German television channels”, says Michel Jean, who even says to have been “a little overwhelmed” by the events, while the Fair started only five days after the publication of his book. Kukum in German.
“My German editor was very enthusiastic and he shared a lot of things on Facebook,” he says, adding that indigenous issues find a lot of resonance in Germany. “The Germans are very cerebral and serious people. They laugh, but they are able to stay very focused. They are interested in substantive issues. Already, Michel Jean plans to return to Germany to tour the literature houses, which are organized in a network across the country. He was also approached by a Brazilian publisher.
Bestsellers in German
For Caroline Fortin, vice-president of Groupe Québec Amérique and president of the Canada FBM2021 organizing committee, it was a pleasure to see books by Quebec authors, like Andrée A. Michaud, enthroned on the stacks of the best-selling books in German. . She comes back with a German translation project in her pocket for two other authors that she does not name because they have not yet been informed.
“I started the project to make Canada the guest of honor at the Fair nine years ago as editor,” she says. In anticipation of the event, training sessions were offered to Quebec and Canadian publishers to facilitate the sale of rights to the Germans. “The virtual edition of 2020 was disappointing,” she admits. But the 2021 edition of the Fair “surprised everyone”.
“The program set up by the Canada Council for the Arts allowed German publishers to acquire Canadian works through a translation assistance program that paid 50% of the costs. In the case of this program, literary and non-literary works were eligible, ”explains Carole Boutin, Director of Contracts and Rights for the Librex Group and the Ville-Marie Literature Group.
The event was also an opportunity, throughout the year, to make Quebec and Canada shine in various fields, from museums to cinema and public art.