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Meeting Place for the Nobel Prize Laureates

At least one Nobel Prize winner attends the Göteborg Book Fair every year. Most of these are Nobel Laureates in Literature, but Nobel Peace Prize Laureates and Nobel Laureates in Medicine have also attended.

It started with Isaac B. Singer, who was a tremendous success at the first Fair in 1985. The former MD of Göteborg Book Fair, Bertil Falck remembers: "This great little man kept an audience of almost one thousand people spellbound. He gave us all shivers in our souls. Thanks to him we got the best possible start."

In 1993, the two Prize winners and world poets Derek Walcott and Joseph Brodsky met at the Fair and enjoyed themselves greatly. Derek Walcott said: "I find the Book Fair very stimulating and I think the Swedes at heart are mad. That's excellent!"

Many Nobel Laureates in Literature have visited the Fair, including: Wole Soyinka, Nigeria, Nadine Gordimer, South Africa, Kenzaburo Oe, Japan, Seamus Heaney, Ireland, Günter Grass, Germany, José Saramago, Portugal and Dario Fo, Italy och Dario Fo, Italien. The 2002 Nobel Laureate, Imre Kertész, Hungary, participated at the Fair both in 1996 and again in 2003.

Arvid Carlsson from Sweden, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine or Physiology in 2000, has also visited the Göteborg Book Fair.

The Peace Prize Laureates, Willy Brandt, Germany, Elie Wiesel, Romania and the US, and Desmond Tutu, South Africa, have attended the Fair. 2006 we welcomed Shirin Ebadi of Iran, recipient of the 2003 Nobel Peace Prize, to the Book Fair.

In 2006 we also received Orhan Pamuk as our guest for the third time after his previous visits in 1995 and 2005. A couple of weeks after the fair, the Swedish Nobel Prize committee announced Mr Pamuk as recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Litterature.

In 2007 we had the pleasure of welcoming Desmond Tutu, recipient of 1984 Nobel Pease Prize, to the Book Fair. 2007 year's Nobel Prize in Literature is awarded to Doris Lessing who where a a guest at the Book Fair in 1986 and in 1995.

Some prominent guests throughout the years at the Göteborg Book Fair

Authors and other cultural personalities love to come to the Book Fair in Göteborg. One reason is that here the authors meet their readers. Another secret behind the attractiveness of the Fair is the outstanding Seminar Programme.

Below we have listed some of the prominent guests who have appeared at the Fair from the start in 1985. This will give you an idea of the development of the Fair, its international range and the quality.

The journalist Clara Ferreira Alves, Expresso. Lisbon, Portugal wrote the following statement about the Fair: "If we were to give a prize to the nicest and most well-arranged book fair in the world, we would choose Göteborg. There, the books are still the important thing."

Here is a list of some of our participants.

2010

Mia Couto, Mozambique/Germany, Nawal El Saadawi, Egypt, Nadine Gordimer, Jonathan Shapiro, Jay Heale, Lesley Beake, Piet Grobler, Lesego Rampolokeng, Kopano Matlwa, Deon Meyer, Ingrid Le Roux, South Africa, Sefi Atta, Helon Habila, Chris Abani, Nigeria/USA, Unity Dow, Botswana, Nuruddin Farah, Somalia/South Africa, Elieshi Lema, John Kilaka, Tanzania, Richard Dowden, Alexander McCall Smith, Andrew Taylor, Catherine Merridale, Peter Hamilton, Great Britain, Dominique Mwankumi, the Congo, Eyoum Nganguè, Christian Epanya, Cameroon, Erica Jong, Judith Torney-Purta, USA, Meshack Asare, Ghana/Germany, Ousmane Diarra, Mali, Fatou Keïta, Côte d'Ivoire, Véronique Tadjo, South Africa/Côte d'Ivoire, Petina Gappah, Irene Sabatini, Zimbabwe/Switzerland, Maaza Mengiste, Ethiopia/USA, Tolu Ogunlesi, Nigeria, Boubacar Boris Diop, Senegal, Lukas Bärfuss, Switzerland, Yaba Badoe, Ghana, Monica Arac de Nyeko, the Sudan/Uganda, Mpho Tutu, South Africa/USA, Doreen Baingana, Uganda, Binyavanga Wainaina, Shailja Patel, Philo Ikonya, Kenya, Alain Mabanckou, Kongo-Brazzaville/USA, Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o, Kenya/USA, Maïssa Bey, Algeria, Ondjaki, Angola, Biyi Bandele, Nigeria/Great Britain, Kitty Crowther, Belgium, Chenjerai Hove, Zimbabwe/USA, Sihem Bensedrine, Tunisia, Denis Mukwege, Kongo-Kinshasa, Ian Buruma, the Netherlands/Great Britain, Sofi Oksanen, Finland, Gundega Repše, Ieva Lešinska, Ieva Lešinska, Latvia, Fatmagül Berktay, Turkey, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Morocco/France, Lubna Ahmad al-Hussein, the Sudan, Claude Izner.

2009

Isabel Allende, Chile/USA, Rosa Montero, Javier Marías, Bernardo Atxaga, Santos Juliá, Laura Gallego, Arnal Ballester, Ignacio Martínez de Pisón, Rafael Chirbes, Andrés Neuman, Fernando Iwasaki, Agustín Fernández Mallo, Manuel Vilas, Rafael Escuredo, Reyes Mate, Justo Jorge Padrón, Ciuco Gutiérrez, Fernando Sánchez Drago, Nuria Amat, Miguel Casado, Ramón Pernas, José Oneto, Spain, Paolo Giordano, Italy, Nick Perumov, Russia/USA, Lydia Cacho, David Toscana, Guillermo Arriaga, Ignacio Padilla, Mexico, Horacio Castellanos Moya, El Salvador, Simon Kernick, Robert Goddard, Simon Beckett, Anne Bamford, UK, Norbert Gstrein, Uwe Timm, Thomas Steinfeld, Hubert Dinse, Germany, Atiq Rahimi France/Afghanistan, György Dragomán, Romania/UK, Carmen Francesca Banciu, Romania/Germany, Lukas Hartmann, Switzerland, Jáchym Topol, the Czech Republic/Germany, Jaroslav Rudiš, the Czech Republic, Renad Qubbaj, Palestine, Manfred Nowak, Austria, Céline Curiol, France, Inga Abele, Liana Langa, Latvia, Neo Chitombo, Botswana, Karen Slaughter, Elaine Vocelka, Leslie Stainton, Mark Mattson, USA, Ana Luísa Amaral, Gonçalo M Tavares, Portugal, Ondjaki, Brazil, Coenraad de Beer, South Africa, Edwin Thumboo, Catherine Lim, Wena Poon, Isa Kamari, Yong Shu Hoong, Alvin Pang, Singapore, Etgar Keret, Israel.

2008

H.R.H. Crown Princess Victoria, Ivars Godmanis, Jutta Ditfurth, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, Mahasweta Devi, Aidan Chambers, Hoda Barakat, Elias Khoury, Herta Müller, Ernesto Cardenal, Hanif Kureishi, Alaa al-Aswany, Sandra Kalniete, Les Murray, Susan Faludi, Thomas Buergenthal, Anne Rambach, Mircea Cărtărescu, Caroline Graham, Michael Ondaatje, Sabina Naber, Nora Ikstena, Christa von Bernuth, Denise Mina, Alan Bennett, Ian Buruma, Knuts Skujenieks.

2007

Toomas Hendrik Ilves, Claudio Magris, Alberto Manguel, Amos Oz, Gioconda Belli, Mark Lynas, Desmond Tutu, Jan Eliasson, Simon Sebag Montefiore, Christer Fuglesang, Peter Robinson, Sebastian Faulks, Leonora Miano, Maryse Condé, Lena Adelsohn-Liljeroth, Jaan Kaplinski, Diane Wei Liang, Faïza Guène, Adrian Goldsworthy, Sigrid Rausing, Giorgio Faletti, Ahmet Zappa, Judith Kuckart.

2006

Orhan Pamuk, Turkey, Julian Barnes, Jacqueline Wilson, Tom Maschler, Jung Chang and Cynthia Lennon, UK, Michel Onfray, France, Shirin Ebadi, Iran, Sara Paretsky, USA, Erlend Loe, Norway, Hanne Vibeke Holst, Denmark, Ayaan Hirsi Ali, The Netherlands and USA, Frank McCourt, USA, Yasmina Khadra, Algeria, Angie Sage och Eoin Colfer, Ireland, Ingo Schulze, Germany, Svetlana Aleksijevitj, Belarus, Leena Lander, Finland, DBC Pierre, Australia.

2005

Adonis, Syria, Orhan Pamuk, Turkey, Dario Fo, Italy, Jenny Diski, Jeanette Winterson, Tracy Chevalier, Simon Singh, Arnold Wesker and Susanna Clarke, UK, Sjón, Iceland, Noreena Hertz, USA, Roddy Doyle, Ireland, Jurga Ivanauskaite, Sigitas Parulskis, Thomas Venclova, Laura Sintija Cerniauskaite, Lithuania, Monika Fagerholm, Finland, Corinne Maier, France, Elias Khoury, Lebanon.

2004

Lygia Bojunga, Brazil, Gore Vidal, Eric Schlosser, Jeffrey Eugenides, USA, Shere Hite, Minette Walters, Margaret Drabble, Michael Holroyd, Phillip Knightley, Sarah Waters, Michel Faber, Tony Harrison, Adam Thirlwell, Shazia Mirza, Joanna Trollope, Michael Morpurgo, UK, Elieshi Lema, Tanzania, Glenn Patterson, Northern Ireland, Märta Tikkanen, Finland, José Carlos Somoza, Spain, Lian Hearn, Australia, David Mitchell, Ireland.

2003

Anna Politkovskaja, Vladimir Sorokin, Russia, Ryszard Kapuscinski, Hanna Krall, Adam Zagajewski, Andrzej Stasiuk, Olga Tokarczuk, Poland, Ali Bourequat, Morocco-USA, Christine Nöstlinger, Christoph Reuter, Elke Schmitter, Germany, Pramoedya Ananta Toer, Indonesia, Ken Alder, Michael Connelly, Diana Gabaldon, USA, Jurga Ivanauskaite, Lithuania, Vandana Shiva, India, Paulo Coelho, Brazil, Imre Kertész, Hungary, Calixthe Beyala, Kamerun, Paulo Lins, Anna Maria Machado, Brazil, Charlene Smith, South Africa, Nicci French (Nicci Gerrard and Sean French), Mark Billingham, Tariq Ali, UK, Margaret Atwood, Canada.

2002

Ahmadou Kourouma, Ivory Coast, Colm Tóibín, Ireland, Javier Cercas, Spain, Roma Ligocka, Poland-Germany, Alain Robbe-Grillet, France, Homi K Bhabha, India-USA, Barbara Ehrenreich, Noam Chomsky, Jean M Auel, USA, Alan Warner, Janice Galloway, Jackie Kay, Sally Beamish, Scotland, Jessica Durlacher, Bart Moeyaert , Karel G van Loon, The Netherlands, Ama Ata Aidoo, Ghana, Alexis Kouros, Iran, Lidia Jorge, Portugal, Assia Djebar, Algeria, Patricia Schonstein Pinnock, Charlene Smith, South Africa, Tony Parsons, Joanne Harris, Hari Kunzru, Margaret Drabble, Iain Pears, Antony Beevor, UK, Waris Dirie, Somalia, Boris Akunin, Russia, Claudine Monteil, France, Wladimir Kaminer, Germany.

2001

Ian Rankin, Scotland, Jilly Cooper, Kevin Crossley Holland, Ruth Fainlight, Val McDermid, Alan Sillitoe, UK, Donna Leon, USA, Moses Isegawa, Uganda-The Netherlands, Ismail Serageldin, Egypt, Suad Amiry, Palestine, Kim Seong-Kon, Korea, Anantha Murthy, Krishna Sobti, Githa Hariharan, India, Yehuda Bauer, Israel, Evelyn Schlag, Radek Knapp, Austria, Jakob Arjouni, Germany.

2000

Ivan Klima, Czech Republic, Elke Erb, Inka Parei, Germany, Vasil Bykau, Belarus, Pepetela, Angola, Christian Jacq, France, John Pilger, Australia-UK, Aubrey Flegg, Nuala O'Faolain, Ireland, Edward W. Said, Michael Cunningham, Jayne Anne Phillips, Edwidge Danticat, Ron Padgett , Susan Faludi, USA, Vizma Belsevica, Latvia, Jaan Kaplinski, Estonia, Tomas Venclova, Lithuania, Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, UK, Joy Fielding, Canada, Yi Mun-Yol, Kim Yong-Jik, Korea.

1999

Hanna Johansen, Zoë Jenny, Switzerland, Raoul Schrott, Jutta Treiber, Peter Marginter, Austria, Peter Schneider, Alice Schwarzer, Ingo Schulze, Martin Walser, Ingrid Noll, Hans-Ulrich Treichel, Germany, Mark Kurlansky, Canada, Palagummi Sainath, India, Mahmud Doulatabadi, Iran, Germano Almeida, Cape Verde, Patrick McCabe, Ireland, Zoé Valdés, Cuba, John le Carré, Leone Ross, Andrea Levy, Margaret Yorke, UK, Alessandro Baricco, Italy, Waris Dirie, Somalia, Carolyn Cassady, Melissa Bank, Will Eisner, Walter Mosley, USA.

1998

Wolf Erlbruch, Germany, Leslie Beake, South Africa, Uri Orlev, Israel, Marita Conlon-McKenna, Ireland, Ana Maria Shuha, Argentina, Nélida Pinon, Brazil, Sergio Ramirez, Nicaragua, Terry Pratchett, Claire Tomalin, Michael Holroyd, UK, Mary Higgins Clark, Louis Simpson, Sandra Brown, Don Rosa, Isabel Fonseca, USA.

1997

Harry Mullish, Magriet de Moor, Cees Nooteboom, Tim Krabbé, The Netherlands, Hugo Claus, Belgium, Edward W. Said, Bud Grace, Robert Crumb, USA, Marion Gräfin Dönhoff, Günter Wallraff, Germany, Lawrence Norfolk, Tibor Fischer, Gillian Cross, Frederick Forsyth, UK, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Azouz Begag, France, Thanasis Valtinos, Greece, Maeve Binchy, Ireland.

1996

Elie Wiesel, Romania-USA, Peter O'Donnell, Lee Falk, Pat Conroy, E. Annie Proulx, John Berendt, John Kenneth Galbraith, USA, Imre Kertész, György Konrád, Péter Esterházy, Hungary, Jean Rouaud, France, Hanna Krall, Poland, Buchi Emecheta, Nigeria-UK, J Nozipo Maraaire, Zimbabwe-USA, Wole Soyinka, Nigeria, M G Vassanji, Tanzania-Canada, Milo Dor, Austria, Albie Sachs, South Africa, Mia Couto, Mocambique, Javier Pérez de Cuéllar, Peru, Bernardo Atxaga, Spain, Irvine Welsh, Scotland, Kate Atkinson, Hanif Kureishi, Nick Hornby, UK, John Marsden, Australia.

1995

Edward W. Said, Jayne Anne Phillips, USA, Doris Lessing, David Attenborough, Rosamund Pilcher, Minette Walters, UK, Salman Rushdie, UK-India, Bei Dao, China-France, Günter Wallraff, Germany, Josyane Savigneau, Hector Biancotti, France, Orhan Pamuk, Yasar Kemal, Turkey, Seamus Heaney, Ireland.

1994

Günter Grass, Gudrun Pausewang, Monica Maron, Germany, Péter Nádas, Hungary, Terry Pratchett, UK, Marilyn French, Norman Mailer, USA, Ryszard Kapuscinsky, Poland, Yevgeny Yevtushenko, Russia, Vikram Seth, India, Alan Lomax, Andrew Vachss, USA, António Jobo Antunés, Portugal, Aziz Nesin, Turkey, Fatima Mernissi, Morocco, Michael Ondaatje, Canada, Margrit de Moor, The Netherlands, Margret Atwood, Canada.

1993

Hugo Loetscher, Urs Widmer, Switzerland, Simon Wiesenthal, Austria, Derek Walcott, Trinidad, Herta Müller, Germany, Alberta Bels, Jânis Ramba, Latvia, Jack Mapanje, Malawi, Peter Estherazy, Hungary, Dermot Bolger, Ireland, Oscar Hijuelos, Cuba-USA, Joseph Brodsky, USSR-USA, Jamaica Kincaid, Donald Spots, USA, Ben Okri, Nigeria.

1992

Margaret Drabble, Julian Barnes, UK, Harlan Ellison, William Kennedy, Elisabeth George, Germaine Greer, Art Spiegelman, Helen Zahavi, Douglas Adams, USA, Wolf Biermann, Peter Schneider, Doris Gercke, Germany, USA, Oriana Fallaci, Italy, Christine Nöstlinger, Austria, Michelle Magorian, Australia, Hugo Claus, Belgium, England, Amos Oz, Israel, György Konrád, Hungary.

1991

José Saramago, Portugal, Joao Ubaldo Ribeiro, Brazil, Pere Gimfeller, Spain, Sarah Kirsch, Wolf Biermann, Stefan Heym, Germany, Erica Jong, Richard Ford, Paul Auster, Mickey Spillane, USA, Angeles Mastretta, Mexico, Francisco Sionil José, The Philippines, Alexandre Jardin, France, Colleen McCullough, New Zealand.

1990

Margaret Atwood, Canada, Hesham Bahari, Vizma Belsevica, Latvia, Lygia Boljunga Nunes, Lydia Fagundes Telles, Darcy Ribeiro, Ana Miranda, Brazil, Willy Brandt, Ulla Hahn, Germany, Vladimir Dudintsev, D Prigov, Arkadij Vaksberg, M Ajzenberg, Russia, Sigtas Geda, Lithuania, Shusha Guppy, Iran, PD James, UK, Ivan Klima, Stéphàn Zavrel, Czech Republic, Quim Monzo, Jordi Porta, Catalonia-Spain, Robert Ludlum , Sarah Paretsky, Bob Woodward, Arthur Hailey , USA, Margaret Yorke, UK, Helga Schütz, DDR, Adonis, Libya.

1989

Nadine Gordimer, South Africa, Yasar Kemal, Turkey, Nawal El-Saadawi, Egypt, Robertson Davies, Canada, Tjingiz Ajtmatov, Soviet Union, Elmore Leonard, E L Doctorow, Maurice Sendak, Jackie Collins, USA, Alberto Moravia, Italy, Ruth Rendell, UK, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Morocco, Friedrich Dürrenmatt, Switzerland.

1988

Jan Wolkers, The Netherlands, Bruno Kreisky, Austria, Ed McBain, Art Spiegelman, Jay McInervey, Tama Janowitz, USA, Joseph Brodsky, USSR-USA, Isabel Allende, Chile, Marie Cardinal, France, Aidan Chambers, Fay Weldon, UK.

1987

Iris Murdoch, PD James, Roald Dahl, Margaret Drabble, Michael Holroyd, UK, Valentin Rasputin, USSR, Jean M Auel, John Updike, Dr Ruth, Joyce Carol Oates, Jayne Anne Phillips, Jack Higgins, USA, Bernard-Henri Lévy, France, Zhang Jie, China, Wole Soyinka, Nigeria, Ernesto Cardenal, Nicaragua.

1986

André Brink, South Africa, Anthony Burgess, Lee Falk, USA, Régine Deforges, France, Ken Follett, Doris Lessing, UK, Christine Nöstlinger, Austria.