Deniz Kılınç / London, April 6 (HNA) – Andy Ventris, the director of the London Book Fair (LBF), has opened the trade show on April 5, with 860 exhibitors, including 477 non-UK international exhibitors, returning to Olympia London to reunite the publishing community for three days of business, networking and learning.
The London Book Fair is holding its first in-person show in three years, after being cancelled abruptly in 2020, just a week before it was scheduled to start, and then offered as a virtual event in 2021. Now with industry members returning to London, fair organizers have high expectations for 2022, even if it is scaled back from the 2019 event.
The number of exhibitors registered for this year’s LBF is 860, down somewhat from the more than 1,000 registered in 2019. Of the 860, 477 are coming from 56 countries outside of the U.K. Currently, 156 exhibitors are from the U.S. In addition to stands from the U.K. and Canada, the LBF will have large pavilions for China, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Turkey. Sharjah, in the United Arab Emirates, is the market focus country and will offer a robust program of literary and cultural events. The fair will also feature a special program highlighting authors from Catalonia.
“The London Book Fair is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. Staged annually, our in-person event typically welcomes more than 25,000 publishing professionals to London for the week of the fair to learn, network, and kick off their year of business” read the LBF statement and added:
“We want to bring colour to the world of words. Every year we curate a first-class fair to give you a multitude of opportunities in London, the global publishing centre. Since 2004, our Market Focus initiative has helped create both commercial and cultural partnerships around the world. Each year, we put the spotlight on publishing trade links with the country or region being showcased. This is your opportunity to connect with the best of the industry in one place, as we bring together publishing professionals from all corners of the globe.”
This year’s Charity of the Year is The Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE). Bringing books and creative literacy learning to millions of children and thousands of teachers and schools, we’re delighted to have CLPE as this year’s charity. CLPE is an independent charity dedicated to raising children’s literacy achievement by putting quality literature at the heart of all learning.
The charity has an international reputation for providing excellent literacy training and resources for primary schools and working with schools to help them put books at the core of their teaching ensuring all children read and write for fun. As Charity of the Year, CLPE has an exhibition space and seminar session at this year’s fair.
Andy Ventris said, “CLPE is a phenomenal charity with an impressive track record in improving the literacy of millions of children. Much has been said about how important a love of books from an early age is in determining later life outcomes, and the CLPE has proven itself to be instrumental in nurturing a love of books and reading in children over the past fifty years… Congratulations to CLPE, and we look forward to championing the charity’s incredible work at LBF in April 2022.”
Louise Johns-Shepherd, ÇLPE’s Chief Executive said, “For fifty years CLPE has worked to ensure that books and stories are put at the very heart of children’s literacy learning. We know how important it is that children get to experience the very best literature, in all its forms and how important it is that they see themselves in the stories, poems and pictures they read. We are beyond delighted to be LBF’s Charity of the Year and to have the opportunity to connect with the industry that literally shapes our work.”
From very modest beginnings in the Berners Hotel near Oxford Street in 1971 as the Specialist Publishers’ Exhibition for Librarians, The London Book Fair – as it took its name in 1977 – has grown to be an essential part of the international book trade calendar.
“Today, the entire international publishing industry is represented, from the giant houses we are familiar with to the smallest independents – the publishers of blockbuster novels and academic texts and the producers of children’s books and graphic novels. To walk its floors is to experience knowledge and stories in all forms. It is impossible not to be captivated, fascinated and inspired” read the LBF statement.