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Taipei International Book Fair gaining global recognition

While not as big or prestigious as the annual Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany or the Bologna Children's Books Fair in Italy, Taiwan's annual book fair is finally on the map and gaining international status.

During last year's Taipei International Book Fair, around 800 Taiwanese and foreign exhibitors from 42 countries set up some 1,400 booths inside the World Trade Center, making it the largest book exhibition in Asia, according to organizers.

With the addition of a second exhibition hall for this year's fair, set for Feb. 16-21, there will be more than 1,700 booths available, organizers said. While the first two days of the fair are for people in the book industry, the public is invited to attend Friday, Saturday and Sunday. There will be a small admission charge for the general public.

In addition, Britain will be the featured country at this year's exhibition.

British architect Chris Wilkinson will speak on "Architecture with Technology" and prominent business biographer Jonathan Mantle will speak on "Knowledge Management," according to fair organizers.

Guests at the book fair this year also include well-known British journalist Timothy Garton Ash, who will be introducing the Taiwan edition of his latest book The File: A Personal History, and US writer Richard Carlson, author of Don't Sweat the Small Stuff. The Japanese manga artist who produces the "City Hunter" series will also be a guest at the fair.

Garton Ash will also present a seminar titled, "Journalism versus Historical Writing."

The fair will be divided into five areas this year, according to themes and the nature of publications, organizers said.

There will be an international copyright trade area, an electronic publications area, a children's books section, a comic books area and a general books section.

In addition, there will be a "meeting point" area set aside for lectures and seminars by guest speakers and visiting authors.
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