The Geneva Book and Press Fair was founded in 1987. Over the years, it has grown to become the world’s second-largest Francophone book fair as well as the largest event of its kind in Switzerland. Each edition features around 800 publishers and authors and attracts between 90,000 and 100,000 attendees. The event takes place at Palexpo, a convention center of Geneva that has seven halls and 102,000 square meters of exhibition space.
The Geneva Book and Press Fair showcases an impressive selection of books and periodicals by Swiss publishers in all four official languages of the Swiss Confederation (French, German, Italian and Romansh), although the main emphasis is put on French-language literature. Of course, the fair also features plenty of foreign publishers which present books in different languages.
The fair lasts for five days filled with exciting events and activities for attendees of all ages and backgrounds, both book lovers and industry professionals. Its program features over 1,000 events including conferences and other events for industry professionals, presentations of new books, meeting with authors, book signings, award ceremonies, art exhibitions, and more.
A lot of book lovers come to Geneva to meet their favorite authors. Past guests include Kazushige Abe (Japan), Christine Arnothy (France), Pierre Assouline (France), Frédéric Beigbeder (France), Yvette Z’Graggen (Switzerland), Sami Tchak (Togo), Gilbert Sinoué (Egypt/France), Dany Laferrière (Haiti/Canada), Abdellatif Laâbi (Morocco), and others.
Each year the Geneva Book Fair features a Guest of Honor, a country or region whose literature and publishing industry are heavily featured in the programming. Past guest countries include Japan, Russia and Tunisia. The fair also presents several literary awards.
