Netherlands to be honored guest of Istanbul Book Fair

ISTANBUL- Hürriyet Daily News

The 31st International Istanbul Book Fair will be held Nov. 17-25, organized by TÜYAP Fair and Exhibition Organization Inc., in association with the Publishers Association of Turkey, at the TÜYAP Fair and Convention Center in Büyükçekmece.

This year the Netherlands has been chosen as the fair’s country of honor, in commemoration of the 400th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Turkey and the Netherlands. Dutch culture and literature will be presented and discussed in a variety of interviews, panel discussions, illustration workshops, professional meetings and an exhibition in the International Hall.

Children’s and youth literature
In addition to a Dutch National Pavilion, an additional 15 publishers of children’s and youth literature as well as general literature will take part in the fair.

Author Erik Jan Zürcher, well-known among academics, researchers and university students in Turkey, will be an interview guest as part of the Dutch events during the book fair. Another guest of the fair will be Henk Boom, one of the leading names in contemporary Dutch literature, who is best known to his Turkish readership for his book on Sultan Süleyman the Magnificent. Kader Abdollah, a writer of Iranian origin who lives and writes in the Netherlands, will also be among the guests of the fair.

A traveling exhibition by the Dutch Literature Foundation will visit Turkey for the first time as part of the fair. The exhibition features selected works by 24 children’s book illustrators. Also, Turkish writer Gülten Dayıoğlu will be the guest of honor at the fair, the theme of which will be: “My Childhood is my Country: Children’s and Youth literature.”