The Taipei book fair lasted six days and was attended by 504 publishers from 29 countries. More than 570,000 visitors had a chance to take a look at, for example, a pavilion dedicated to digital technology and artificial intelligence, Taiwanese comics or children's books. Italy was this year's guest of honour. Moreover, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan, Korea, Poland and Thailand also presented their national stands.

At the Czech stand, visitors could get acquainted with a selection of our contemporary literature. On display were a collection of The Most Beautiful Czech Books of 2023, books awarded the Magnesia Litera Prize, and classic works by Bohumil Hrabal, Franz Kafka and Milan Kundera published in Traditional Mandarin.

Guests of the Czech stand also had the opportunity to take part in a discussion about the books Life After Kafka by Magdalena Platzová and Memory Burn by Marek Torčík. Both authors participated in TiBE personally. The highlight of the Czech activities at TiBE was the launch of the book What Is Missing on the Outside, You Cannot Find Within, a selection of eleven works of contemporary Czech prose translated into Traditional Mandarin.

We are glad that Czech literature has caught the attention of TiBE visitors. We look forward to the opportunity of introducing new works of modern Czech literature to local readers as well next year.

Author of the article: Evelina Balazh