General Director of Hồ Chí Minh General Publishing House Đinh Thị Thanh Thủy (right) is pictured with Vietnamese-German author Isabelle Müller at Frankfurt Book Fair 2023. —  Photo courtesy of Hồ Chí Minh General Publishing House

FRANKFURT — Many major Vietnamese publishing houses are attending the Frankfurt Book Fair 2023 in Germany, joining meetings, seeking collaboration and engaging in cultural exchanges with reputable publishers worldwide.

The Frankfurt Book Fair 2023, the 75th edition, is gathering over 4,000 publishers from around the globe, making it the largest event since 2020. The theme of this year's event is 75 Times, 75 Stories.

The Vietnamese delegation to the event this year is also the largest with nearly 100 members. The Vietnamese zone in the book fair includes four booths of Vietnam Publishers' Association, the HCMC Department of Information and Communication, Trẻ Publishing House and Kim Đồng Publishing House, introducing books by many major Vietnamese publishers like Nhã Nam, Đông A, First News and Hồ Chí Minh City General Publising House.

One of the highlighted booths is Hồ Chí Minh City – Việt Nam that features books about the history and culture of the city in particular and Việt Nam in general, like the collection of Gia Định Sài Gòn Thành Phố Hồ Chí Minh ­– Dặm Dài Lịch Sử (The Miles of History of Gia Định – Sài Gòn – Hồ Chí Minh City), Loanh Quanh Sài Gòn (Wandering Saigon), Phong Tục Đất Phương Nam (Southern Vietnam Customs), as well as bestsellers like Loan - From a Life of Phoenix and Phoenix's Daughter - Hope Was My Way by Vietnamese-German author Isabelle Müller.

According to Vũ Thị Yến, public relations and copyright exploitation officer of the HCM City General Publishing House, the publishing industry’s largest international venue provides an opportunity for Vietnamese publishers to explore new trends in the global market, access advanced technologies for publishing activities, engage in cultural exchanges related to books and negotiate copyright transactions.

It also a chance for Việt Nam to learn from international experiences to organise its international book fair 2024 and other international book-related events in the future, she added.

Vietnamese books are introduced at Frankfurt Book Fair 2023. — Photo courtesy of Hồ Chí Minh General Publishing House

Vietnamese-German writer Isabelle Müller said she was impressed by the Vietnamese zone at this year's Frankfurt book fair.

"The German version of Phoenix Daughter had the honour of being here already in 2009, as well as at the Leipzig Book Fair. And Loan was also represented at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2015, when the book reached the final in the Amazon Kindle StoryAward competition. So I have again a wonderful feeling of joy and thankfulness.

"What was particularly special for me was seeing both translated books now exhibited next to each other. Both books belong together and above all: To me, Việt Nam is slowly conquering Germany and the world when showcasing its publications. It is sharing for the very first time in Frankfurt Book Fair its own reading culture, and developing it at the same time. It is wonderful," she said.

The Frankfurt Book Fair 2023 continues through October 22. — VNS