Frankfurt Book Fair 2025: guest of honor the Philippines, focus on AI and rights

The 78th edition

Literature and culture will be at the center of the event with a particular focus on innovation in the publishing field. This is why it is a highly anticipated event for book enthusiasts and experts to keep an eye on literary trends and news. It is not only a large market for customers but also the place where agreements on rights, translations and collaborations are concluded. The guest of honor of this 78th edition will be the Philippines, a role that allows the chosen country to enhance its authors and promote them to export them beyond its borders. "Today, attention is a contested resource. There are more and more platforms, promotion systems and algorithms that stand between a book and its readers", said Juergen Boos, Director of the Fair. He added that the spaces will be reorganized compared to the past: "Each pavilion will have a clearly recognizable theme. This will facilitate orientation and offer more time for dialogue." Artificial intelligence will be a common thread throughout the entire program dedicated to professionals in the book sector. What are the challenges and opportunities presented by AI for publishers and rights managers? The speakers will try to answer this pressingly topical question. Audiobooks will also be at the center of the debate.

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The guests

Among the writers who will meet the public are American writer Colson Whitehead, two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize; the writer and translator from the Czech Republic Radka Denemarková; the German writer Jenny Erpenbeck, winner of the fourth edition of the European Strega Prize in 2017 with the novel "Voci del verbo go" (Feltrinelli); Yang Shuang-zi, fresh from winning the International Booker Prize 2026 with “Taiwan Travelogue” arriving soon in Italy with Fazi. The fair is also a space to discuss the contemporary world. As part of the cultural policy program entitled "Frankfurt Calling" with panels on democracy, human rights, freedom of expression, global conflicts. Also in focus are technological developments and their consequences. There will be prominent figures from the intellectual scene such as the historian Jill Lepore who will analyze the crisis of American democracy; the political scientist Asma Mhalla in dialogue with the German author Dietmar Dath will discuss the right to think in the digital age; the former vice-chancellor in the Scholz government, Robert Habeck, will reflect on society's rightward shift and the lawyer and professor of law at University College London Philippe Sands will shed light on the consequences of ecocide. Also expected in Frankfurt are the French Gisèle Pelicot, symbol of the fight against gender violence, the singer-songwriter Wolf Biermann and the Italian economist with US citizenship Mariana Mazzucato.

The complete program is at this link.