In the publishing world, there are several major book fairs that top editors and agents "must" attend: the Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, the Bologna Book Fair in Italy and the American Booksellers Association show in the US. Tokyo now has its own annual book fair, vying for Asian book action, and now Taipei is muscling in on the scene. Next February, some 42 countries are expected to take part in the 8th Taipei International Book Fair. The Government Information Office, one of the sponsors of the exhibition, has invited several Nobel laureates to take part. Will German novelist Guenter Grass make an appearance here? Stay tuned.
What happens at the Taipei show is this: translation deals are signed, Asian editors and publishers network and plan future book titles and film, video and TV rights get sold. It's not quite Frankfurt or Bologna or New York yet, but Taipei is developing as a major center for book deals in the Asian region.
More than 100 publishers from Britain have been invited to participate in the "featured nation" exhibition at the February fair.
For news about the recent Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany, please turn to our Insight section on page 13.
`Stupid noodles' on the menu
Yesterday, we spotlighted two regional food items in Taiwan, the famous "coffin planks" of Tainan and Yingke's popluar "garbage noodles" restaurant. Now comes word of two more interesting concoctions: "stupid noodles" (
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