Migrant Women at the Gothenburg Book Fair
(Stockholm, 25 September)
Migrant Women at the Gothenburg Book Fair
The Gothenburg Book fair is the biggest meeting place for the book trade in the Nordic countries. Being arranged purely as a trade fair for librarians and the publishing trade as a whole, the first fair was held in 1985 and had 5,000 visitors. Since then, the fair has developed into an important cultural and social manifestation and has grown year after year. In 2012 no fewer than 99,136 visits were registered during the four days of the Fair.
The 29th Book Fair takes place 26-29 September 2013, and it will focus on Romania and Romanian literaturehttp://www.bokmassan.se/en/news1/ro.... The event is organized in cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Institute in Stockholm and with publishers and other organizations, among which, the Federation of Migrant Women’s Associations
(RIFFI, member of the European Network of Migrant Women.
The ample literature and culture of Romania will be reflected through 16 seminars, with the participation of numerous prestigious writers: domestic as well as those living in exile. In addition to the seminars, there are events on different debate scenes and activities at the exhibition stands.
In close cooperation with the Romanian Cultural Institute, the Roma Centre and the Job Centre in Stockholm, RIFFI, through Monica Cristea, is hosting a debate under the banner “migration”, raising highly topical questions.
- What is it like to start again in a new land?
- What is it like to come to Sweden from Romania today, compared to a couple of decades earlier?
- The labour market, de-skilling and re-skilling.
- What is the situation of the Roma people?
RIFFI has invited two migrant women to attend, Larisa Lacatus and Natalia Ginghina, also from Romania. Together, working ideally and sharing their experience in empowering migrant women, Monica, Larisa and Natalia will try to strengthen the women’s position in Swedish society as well as to raise awareness about migrant women’s potential.
Resurgence of Romanian culture
Romanian literature has received increased international attention through a growing number of translations, including into Swedish, and its constant presence at various book fairs in the world. In 2011, Romania was the guest country in Madrid, and in 2012, the country’s literature was on focus at the book fairs in Prague and Turin.
You can read more about many other interesting Romanian writers in the Romanian Cultural Institute’s team at the Book Fair Community. (In Swedish)
The Romanian Cultural Institute is designed to form and widen new perspective on Romanian culture and to build long-term relationships between cultural operators in Romania and Sweden. The Institute is headquartered in Bucharest and one of seventeen branches located throughout the world.
December 1 is celebrated as Romania’s national day. Therefore, the Book Fair team thought it was a good reason to draw attention to Romanian literature and culture by focusing on it at the Book Fair in 2013.
Here you can see the portraits of some Romanian outstanding authors by photographer Cato Leins.
