Gaudeamus, the Book Fair under the patronage of Radio Romania

Over 380 book publishers, distributors, cultural and educational institutions from Romania and abroad, 400 book launches, 14,000 square meters – these are only some of the figures that can be used to describe the Gaudeamus Book Fair, opened on Thursday in Bucharest.

The 17th edition of the fair, organized by Radio Romania, is the largest event of its kind in Romania, and takes place over four days.

Among the guests at the opening ceremony was the CEO of the Romanian Radio Broadcasting Corporation, Demeter Andras, who said that “Gaudeamus has become more than a book fair; it is now a real cultural phenomenon, put together by Radio Romania”.

This year’s guest of honor was the Belgian region of Wallonia-Brussels. Fabienne Reuter, head of the Belgian delegation, noted that the country’s presence, as a special guest is, “an expression of a stronger-than-usual presence at the Gaudeamus Fair and of our privileged relationship with Romania and Radio Romania”.

The Belgian ambassador to Bucharest, Leo d’Aes, underlined that the Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian presidencies of the EU place great importance on culture. The Belgian and Italian ambassadors to Bucharest, Leo d’Aes and Mario Cospito, respectively, have expressed their wish that their countries would be better represented on the Romanian book market from now on.

The Honorary President of the 2010 Gaudeamus Book Fair, Jacques Dubois, philologist and professor at the University of Liege, praised prominent Romanian writers like Emil Cioran, Ion Luca Caragiale, Panait Istrati and Mircea Eliade and expressed his appreciation for Romanian culture.

Among the guests at the Gaudeamus Book Fair was writer Norman Manea, the most translated Romanian author abroad, who continued to write in the Romanian language even after his exile to the US in 1986. A number of books are scheduled to be launched at the fair, including the latest works of Turkish author Orhan Pamuk, “The Museum of Innocence”, and of British-Indian writer Salman Rushdie – “Luka and the Fire of Life”, respectively.

Another release will be the author series of Mario Vargas Llosa, winner of the 2010 Nobel Prize in Literature. Also at the Gaudeamus Book Fair, Radio Romania will pin Romania on the world map of BookCrossing, a program featuring dozens of books left in public spaces for anyone to take, read and pass on.