Minister of Canadian Heritage Mélanie Joly

Canada will be the guest of honour country at the 2020 Frankfurt Book Fair. Canadian Heritage Minister Mélanie Joly accepted the invitation on Oct. 6 at a meeting with fair president Juergen Boos and publishing-industry representatives.

Canada originally had been asked to appear as the guest of honour in 2017, to coincide with the country’s sesquicentennial. Ottawa-based non-profit Livres Canada Books headed a committee requesting $6.5 million in government funding to attend the fair. That funding was denied, even after Boos travelled to Ottawa in a failed attempt to meet with then Heritage minister Shelly Glover.

The 2020 Canadian contingent will be required to build a pavilion on the fair’s main stage to showcase the country’s literary talent.

The Frankfurt Book Fair is the world’s largest marketplace for book-industry representatives, who buy and sell rights and licences at the networking event. Approximately 275,000 visitors attend the annual event.