svenska

Voices from Göteborg Book Fair 2010!

Did you attend at the Book Fair? What did you think? We are curious about our visitors and how they liked their stay at the Book Fair. Here we will continuously publish a number of voices from our guests and lecturers at the Göteborg Book Fair 2010!

Tolu Ogunlesi, Nigeria.
"Thank you for a wonderful Book Fair last month!
I had a lot of fun, and it was very well organised. You ensured we were very well taken care of!"

 

Sofi Oksanen, Finland.
"Gothenburg book fair has succeeded in getting the interest of large group of readers and book-lovers - the fair is intense, rich in programm and also for an author a great place to meet old and new readers. The experience I´ve had about the seminars as an author is a very good one - the audience had a very good energy. Even though you can say book fairs are quite same everywhere I have to say Gothenburg has a special, unique character - It´s wonderful to see so many book-lover at the same place".

Andres Lokko, Sweden and UK.
"This is the readers' fair - and that is what makes it cool, like a Roskilde festival for literature. The readers own and they decide. There is a very nice festival feel to the fair, I think the snobbery surrounding literature disappears here".

 

Karin Brunk Holmqvist, Sweden.
"This is a meeting spot for literature lovers! As a writer I think it is important to be here and to keep myself updated when it comes to literary trends. The Book Fair gives me an opportunity to meet Nordic publishers".  

Chris Abani, Nigeria.
"I love the diversity of writers and the mix between the performative and the intellectual. Another thing I’d like to mention is the organization. It’s brilliant! Flawless. And the size of the audience has been impressive, which probably means that the advertising has been good".

Håkan Nesser, Sweden.
"Brilliant! I have been to quite a few fairs around the world by now - and Göteborg Book Fair is still the best! It is a good mix between commercialism and seriosity". 
 

Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, Sweden.
"It is so nice to meet the readers. The Book is central and above all - the readers are central".

Ousmane Diarra, Mali.
"I would like thank you for my invitation and the very well organization of this important event. I'm verry happy to be in Goteborg".

 

Nawal El Saadawi, Egypt.
"My impression is that it’s a very good fair. I was here some 20 years ago and this one is much better. I like the enthusiasm of the people. The audience has been wonderful. The African theme was very good. We have to pay more attention to Africa. I met many friends and writers, like Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Nuruddin Farah and Sefi Atta".

Nuruddin Farah, Somalia.
"It’s an excellent book fair! I really enjoyed it. It’s well organized. I enjoyed meeting a lot of people".

 

Claude Izner (Laurence Lefèvre och Liliane Korb), France.
"It’s a beautiful fair! And so well organized. We like it!"

 

Elieshi Lema, Tanzania.
"Wonderful! The Book Fair is extremely well organized. It’s big and I get lost all the time, but I always find my way back since its so well structured. I enjoyed my talks and seminars tremendously and the attendance has been very good".

 

Ngugi wa Thiong’o, Kenya.
"It’s so huge! Everywhere you look you see people. It’s like a market. I think the book fair is very good both in quality and quantity. I’ve enjoyed my talks, the interaction has been great and the seminar halls have been full of people, which is very impressive".

 

Mia Couto, Mozambique.
"The first impression is that this is a very warm environment. Sometimes I feel like I’m in Africa, at home. We have this false impression that Sweden is a cold place – but the Book Fair shows that it’s quite the opposite. The way you receive African countries is very important – not just now, but also for the future.

I think this book fair is more connected to the readers than many other book fairs. The way you connect the writers and the readers in a direct way is very impressive".

 

Unity Dow, Botswana.
"I think it’s a wonderful event – all the energy and diversity! I’ve been to a couple of book fairs before, but this one is like an African market. People offering things everywhere, a bit of chaos. I like it!"

 

Tahar Ben Jelloun, Morocco.
"I think it’s a fantastic celebration of African literature! You have to support Africa and literature is the best introduction to Africa".

Alain Mabanckou, Kongo-Brazaville.
"I was very amazed to see such a lot of people at my seminar. The room was full! I think that the the Swedish people’s interest in African literature is a good example of what the world is becoming. People are interested in what happens elsewhere and want to find out more. It’s a very well organized book fair".

 

Petina Gappah, Zimbabwe.
"Fantastic! Brilliant! Out of this world! I’m really enjoying the mix of different writers and I’m hoping, once I’m free, that I can catch some of the events. My schedule so far has been very busy! It was a dream and a joy, from spending time with you all and the other amazing writers and the humbling turn out and press attention at my events. I have put Gothenborg firmly up there among my favourite places".

 

Alexander McCall Smith, Scottish author of bestselling The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency.
"I’m very positive. I really like this book fair, it has a nice feel to it. I think that you’ve found a very good model with discussions going on everywhere. I’ve had many interesting conversations. I’ve been to quite a few book fairs, and I rate this as one of the top ones"

Lubna Ahmad al-Hussein, Sudanese author, media worker and activist who caught international attention in 2009 as she was prosecuted for wearing trousers.
Good! Nice! I get a lot of support from different people to continue my campaigne for women’s rights".