Leipzig (dpa) – The Leipzig Book Fair is returning after a three-year interruption due the coronavirus pandemic. At the grand opening, the Jewish-Russian writer Maria Stepanova was presented with the Leipzig Book Prize for the advancement of European reconciliation, which is worth 20,000 euros. Stepanova, 50, has been living in exile in Berlin since Russia began its war of aggression against Ukraine. She was awarded the prize for her collection of poems, “Girls without clothes”.
“My voice can be heard, and I’m eternally grateful for that. I’m grateful to those who have done everything so it can be made out in German-speaking countries,” said Stepanova. She pledged to her best to “to oppose those forces which misuse our language as an instrument of violence and death.”
Between now and Sunday, over 2,000 exhibitors are taking part in the Leipzig Book Fair. Austria is involved as a visiting nation at the popular trade fair for the publishing industry, with over 200 authors represented. Claudia Roth, Germany’s Minister of State for Culture, described the Book Fair as one of “the largest and most important in the whole of Europe,” and stressed the role of the Fair in building a bridge between Central and Eastern Europe. “That is absolutely essential during times of these tensions, times of war in Ukraine.”