Top authors to descend on capital for book fair
Meir Shalev, A.B. Yehoshua and international writers to be on hand as International Book Fair joins forces with Hebrew Book Week from June 11-15
Jessica Steinberg, The Times of Israel's culture and lifestyles editor, covers the Sabra scene from south to north and back to the center
The International Book Fair and Hebrew Book Week will join forces this year for a range of free activities in Jerusalem.
Dozens of writers from Israel and abroad, as well as some 300 local and international publishers, will gather from June 11 to 15 in the nation’s capital for the event, which will include author meet and greets, alongside book stalls set up by publishers for Hebrew Book Week.
The fair, celebrating its 28th year, will take place at the First Station complex, as well as other venues that include the Terminal, Jerusalem Cinematheque and Mishkenot Sha’ananim.
The fair opens with the June 11 presentation of the Jerusalem Prize to Norwegian writer Karl Ove Knausgård at the YMCA.
Other international writers attending the fair include Holocaust scholar Deborah Lipstadt (USA), Vea Kaiser (Austria), Valter Hugo Mãe (Portugal), Chiara Gamberale (Italy), Jan Peter Bremer (Germany), Magdaléna Platzová (Czech Republic), Philippe Claudel (France), Sacha Batthyany (Switzerland), Florina Ilis (Romania), John George and Greg Jackson (USA), poet Manuel Forcano (Spain), Eraldo Affinati (Italy), and crime writers Dominique Manotti of France and Kristina Ohlsson of Sweden.
Among the local authors attending will be Meir Shalev, Dorit Rabinyan, A.B. Yehoshua, Yuval Noah Harari, Ayelet Gundar Goshen, Avraham Burg and Eshkol Nevo.
Some of the writers will participate in a number of organized sessions, with Knausgård talking to Ha’aretz book editor David Green, Rabinyan and Yehoshua discussing the character of the Arab lover in their writings, and Harari speaking to Liad Modrick about how and why to write popular science books.
There will also be a stall of “live audiobooks,” in which authors will read excerpts of their works.
A two-day Jerusalem hackathon will be part of the fair, focused on the Books on Maps app, which allows users to travel to the locations of fictional events, reading quotes and scenes from the books exactly where they took place.
Mishkenot Sha’anaim will also play host to three free writing workshops during the fair (requires pre-registration) and activities for kids and the whole family, with plays held at the First Station’s Chutzpa Ktana theater.
For more information and details about the book fair, go to the Jerusalem International Book Fair website. The Hebrew Book Week stalls will be set up June 7-17, from 12 p.m. until midnight each day of the fair, with the exception of Friday and Saturday (the stalls will be opened Saturday night). Details of the book publishers featured are available at Hebrew Book Week website, with information about the book fair locations for other cities.
The Times of Israel Community.