A Record Fair: the First 2010 Balance

Turin, Monday 17 May 2010, 18.00

2010 International Book Fair: a first assessment of results A Record Fair Once again it has been defined as the “record-breaking fair”. And it was a record. With 315,013 visitors, the 23rd International Book Fair closed its doors at 10 pm on Monday 17 May 2010 setting a new record: 7,353 more visitors compared to 307,650 in 2009. This is the highest ever reached in over twenty years of life, with an average leap forward of 2.34% compared to last year.

The Fair was inaugurated by the Minister for Employment and Social Security Maurizio Sacconi and the Under-Secretary for Cultural Heritage Francesco Maria Giro.

Never before this year has the Fair moved so much out of the pavilions of Lingotto Fiere spreading across the city, with the almost one hundred meetings of the Salone Off in three districts of Turin, the Bookrunning initiative, and the return of Voltapagina in the prison of Saluzzo.

The idea of an Italy Pavilion is beginning to take shape for 2011, which intends to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the reunification of Italy with a design and cultural programme specially conceived together with the government and national and local institutions to give the presence of Italy the characteristic of a true host country.

The Presidency of the Higher Co-ordination Committee of the Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura was handed over from the mayor of Turin Sergio Chiamparino to the president of Regione Piemonte Roberto Cota, who takes on this role for the first time.

Amos Oz wins the first Book Fair International Prize The Israeli writer Amos Oz won the first edition of the Turin Book Fair International Prize with 3,146 votes (47% of the total). He was followed by the American Paul Auster with 2,385 votes, 35% of the total, and the Mexican Carlos Fuentes with 1,224 votes (18%). A total of 6,755 people voted, expressing their preferences in the seven touch screen stations scattered around the Fair pavilions.

His victory was decided by the visitors to the Fair, journalists, speakers, publishers and exhibitors who preferred him to the other other two finalists. The names of the three finalists were chosen in April by the Fondazione del Libro’s Driving Committee.

Voting finished at 13.00 on Monday 17 May, the last day of the International Book Fair.

15% of the voters were publishers present at the event, corresponding to 30% of all exhibitors. The remaining 85% of votes were cast by visitors to the Fair. The peak of voting was reached in the hours of 10-11 and 15-17, and on Saturday 15 May. The prize – a cheque of € 25,000 as a fee for the winner’s commitment – will be delivered in October in one of the locations of the Parco Culturale Piemonte Paesaggio Umano, 1 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

between Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, where the winner will hold a series of meetings and lectures open to the general public, with particular attention to the students of secondary schools in the area.

The winner. Amos Oz was born in Jerusalem in 1939 in a family of Russian origins. At fifteen he went to live in a kibbutz. Today he teaches at the Ben Gurion University of the Negev. His books draw deeply on his strong relationship with these lands, in an examination that is sincere to the point of cruelty. They talk about the people of Israel, its upheavals, and the splendid natural scenarios that constitute its soul. They sound out family, friendship and love relations with a special sensitivity for the female world. He is the author of novels, essays and books for children, among which are Don’t Call it Night, Suddenly in the Depth of the Forest, A Tale of Love and Darkness (a family saga covering four generations), Black Box, The Same Sea, Rhyming Life and Death and the recent Scene dalla vita di un villaggio, all for Feltrinelli.

Russia, guest country 2011 Among the visitors to the 2010 Fair was Valery V. Grigoryev, the president of the Russian Federation State Agency for Communication and Mass Media, who also met the directors of the Fondazione per il Libro to organise the possible presence of Russia as guest country at the next Fair.

2011 will in fact be the Year of Italian Language and Literature in Russia and of Russian Literature in Italy and will see the organisation of numerous cultural encounter initiatives for the two countries, including a major exhibition of Botticelli and Caravaggio at the Pushkin Museum in Moscow and exchange-stays of Italian and Russian writers.

Grigoryev expressed great appreciation for the Fair’s pavilions and stands and the cultural programme, defined as very, very impressive.

Events sold out More than 70,000 visitors to the Fair attended the over 1,400 meetings in the 27 rooms of Lingotto Fiere.

Twenty nine meetings were in the Fair programme with the Green Point ticket. They were attended by a total of 12,456 spectators. Fourteen meetings were sold out. The first was the one in the Sala 500 with Roberto Saviano, which was sold out in just a few minutes. Then the 600 in the Sala Gialla for Monsignor Gianfranco Ravasi, the Bibbia dei villani by Dario Fo, the silhouette of Italy of Ayala, Gratteri and Nicaso, the homage to David Foster Wallace of Gioele Dix, the meeting with Massimo Gramellini, Walter Veltroni, the show by Luciana Littizzetto, the lesson by Eugenio Scalfari, Gad Lerner’s Labirinti della Memoria. The Sala 500 was packed for Gianrico Carofiglio, Umberto Eco, and Marco Travaglio.

All sold out for Amélie and Juliette Nothomb. And large audiences also for Giuseppe Tornatore, Vittorio Sgarbi, Paolo Villaggio, Paolo Conte, Emanuele Filiberto, Susanna Tamaro, Pupi Avati, Gustavo Zagrebelski and Rosy Bindi, Piero Angela, Risorgimento without memory of Maurizio Maggiani, Antonella Clerici and Francesco Guccini.

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The International Fair of the... e-Book The e-book was the great protagonist of this year’s edition of the International Book Fair.

Many visitors laid siege to the stand of Ginevra and Simplicissimus Book Farm to get to know the main e-book reader models. The world of new electronic devices for reading digital books is going through a phase of strong expansion.

“In Italy the demand for e-books is rising with a growth rate of 500%”, stated Luigi Passerino, the commercial director of Simplicissimus Book Farm. Its stand was packed with the curious and enthusiasts every day of the Fair. “The best-selling model was the Cybook Opus. The price is 199 euros and here at the Fair we sold about 200. Since the start of 2010 we have sold over 30,000.”

A the stand of Ginevra the top-selling e-book was the newly arrived K8, priced at 599 euros, 9.8 inches, touch screen technology, e-ink and e-paper, the K8 supports reflow technology, which from the high resolution pdf format makes it possible to distinguish the text part fromt the iconography.

At Memory Dome the top product was My Memory Home, the first all-Italian emotional network available on the net that enables users to use the functions of a social network, without the obligation of predefined schemes or set rules, choosing one’s own organisation of contents and levels of sharing of all one’s own biographical archive.

At the Fair, Multiplayer.it Edizioni presented Metro 2033, a science fiction novel the fruit of the mind of of the Russian writer Dmitry Glukhovsky who transforms the Moscow underground into a refuge for the last survivors of the Third World War. As they told us at the stand, “In a very short time the book became a videogame. Our gamble was to digitalise the paper version and make it available on-line completely free.”

And for new technologies that arrive, old scrap disappears and former companions return. Those who needed to get rid of their old mobile phone and at the same time try their luck will have certainly visited the Vodafone stand. For each mobile scrapped a coupon was distributed that offered the possibility to win a Vodafone bicycle. The final result was over 300 mobiles collected and 20 bicycles won. Every mobile phone recovered by Vodafone will be reused or recycled in the most correct manner and the revenue from this initiative will go to finance the installation of photovoltaic panels in Italian schools, in collaboration with Enel and Legambiente.

The Fair seen by the media This year at the Fair 3,250 journalists, photographers and video operators were accredited (just over 2,800 in 2009), from all around the world. From the Australian radio SBS to Brazil, the United States and obviously India, with the correspondents of the Punjab Times. Since 29 April, the day of the press conference of presentation, 2,083 articles in national and local newspapers and periodicals have been published. Since May 1, radio and TV stations have talked about the International Book Fair 347 times.

On the eve of the opening of the Fair, the new iPhone application was launched by Lingotto Fiere that made it possible to follow the whole International Book Fair on one’s mobile phone. In the five days of the event the application was downloaded by almost 500 people, about 10% of them from outside Italy.

The close relationship between the Fair and RAI continues, which thanks to the presence of over 400 journalists, technicians, authors and directors broadcast from the Fair over 3 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

100 hours of live radio and about 60 hours of live TV, hosting more than 150 guests at its stand.

In its second year of life, the new site www.salonelibro.it has become a point of reference for book lovers and readers. Since 29 April it has been visited by 234,255 users, with an increase of 33% in the number of visitors. The most significant figure is certainly the number of pages read by the users which has reached a total of 2,112,147, with an increase of 49.5% compared to the figures for 2009. On average each user spent more than 6 minutes browsing our portal. There were also a hundred or so visits from China, and almost one thousand from the United States. In search engine statistics, Salone Internazionale del Libro had many more requests than Fiera Internazionale del Libro: a sign that users have grasped the return to the new-old name. Site engineering was provided by Risolviamo while the graphics were by Ars Media.

Bestsellers, blockbusters Fabio Geda, Roberto Saviano, Carlos Ruiz Zafon 20-25% more sales compared to the 2009 edition. A great success for the 2010 edition of the Book Fair that reflects the general satisfaction of the publishers present for the level of sales. Many publishers had to turn to overnight deliveries to keep up with demand from visitors.

Newton Compton recorded a clear-cut 20% rise in sales. The stand staff noted that “spending capacity has risen this year. We have seen the presence of a younger public that laid siege to our area, especially on Saturday and Sunday”. The most popular book was Il bambino della città ghiacciata by Olle Lönnaeus.

The likeable mice investigators Geronimo and Tea Stilton were instead the protagonists of the Piemme stand, which saw a boom in sales for children. The most popular title was Viaggio nel tempo 3. This is an interesting fact, as they explained at the stand, because “it is a fairly high-priced book, demonstrating a certain tendency not to save on quality books”.

Mondadori reported an increase this year of 15% in sales. The book that sold the most was Il palazzo della mezzanotte by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. The low cost series of Best Sellers Classici Moderni also went well. Good sales but also a lot of thefts. There was also enthusiasm at the stand of Einaudi where obviously the lion’s share went to Roberto Saviano. The best-selling book was, in fact, Sei fuori posto, the collection of short stories that contained a tale by the writer from Campania. The DVD twinned with the book La parola contro la camorra also flew off the shelves. An increase of 15% was also the increase mentioned at the Einaudi stand. The latest works by Eugenio Scalfari and Enzo Bianchi also sold very well. “However we were astonished by the success of some rather difficult books, such as Sopra eroi e tombe by Ernesto Sabato which sold twenty or so copies. Piemme also did well with the new series Free Way, for teenagers, and books for adults focused on India, the Fair’s guest country. There was also excellent success for the books presented at the Fair that, as in the case of Terroni by Pino Aprile, also sold out at the ticket office.

Attendance was also good in the space run by Gruppo Editoriale Mauri Spagnol, whose best seller was the latest work by the journalist of La Stampa Massimo Gramellini L’ultima riga della favola. In this case the rise in sales was more than 20%, with peaks on Saturday.

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Business was also fast at the Baldini Castoldi Dalai stand. “Last year we saw a boom thanks to the publication in exactly that period of the latest work by Giorgio Faletti.

This year the level of sales was good, especially thanks to Nel mare ci sono i coccodrilli

by Fabio Geda and the books in the Tartaruga imprint, aimed particularly at a female readership”. Excellent sales also for the book by Nino D’Angelo, presented by the author.

Bollati & Boringhieri despite proposing high-brow authors saw a clear increase in sales, not yet quantified. In particular, Elizabeth von Arnim and Tom Siegfried were very successful, but sales of classics were confirmed once again, with great names like Pulitzer, Freud and Jung.

Enthusiasm was also high at the Feltrinelli stand, where sales rose by 25%, “with peaks of 40% in the first two days”, they report. What books sold best? “The ones by Paolo Sorrentino, José Saramago and the Indian authoress Tishani Doshi”. One curious fact: the day after the television current affairs show Anno Zero 120 copies were sold of the book by Massimo Ciancimino Don Vito. A great success with the public, but sales in line with last year at the stand of the Associazione Sant’Anselmo. Their best selling book was the one by Professor Pierluigi Baima Bollone centred on the enigma of the Holy Shroud, on display in this period in Turin.

Even without the Twilight effect, which last year catalysed the attention of the younger public at the Fair, sales were stable at the stand of Fazi Editore. The manager Francesco Pedicini explained: “We are satisfied, because in 2009 we did very well with the latest book by Stephanie Meyer. This year, without a Meyer, sales were the same”.

The book that sold the best was Sette piccoli sospetti by Christian Frascella, a guest for a long time at the stand. The first book to sell out was also the cheapest on the stand, Gatti by Shifra Horn. The novels by Stephanie Meyer won the record for those preferred by thieves.

Staff at Adelphi show satisfaction. The manager responsible Renzo Ginepro declared that: “We saw a 20% increase in sales. Even by Sunday evening total revenues were better than last year. At the moment we have sold about 4,500 items for 1,200 titles, which means that sales were distributed over a large part of our catalogue. We are waiting for the final figures”. The bestseller is Due by Irène Némirovsky, but books on Indian essays and philosophy were bought in large quantities.

Plus 20% for the publisher Excelsior 1881. The top three books sold were: first I misteri della massoneria by Leo Taxil, followed by Torri d’avorio by Giuseppe Scaraffia and Fuori tempo massimo by Auro Bulbarelli. Bulbarelli’s book won the prize for the most stolen work. Paolo Conte who presented Ti ricordi Nanni? (edited by Claudio Ricordi), who wrote the preface”. And there was then a star guest, who praised and bought a lot of books: “We are talking about Vittorio Sgarbi, who in addition to Torri d’avorio and Fuori tempo massimo, also bought L’arte di essere povero by Boni de Castellane, Pelham. The adventures of a gentleman by Edward Bulwer and Mata Hari by Richard Skinner”.

Castelvecchi Editore showed an increase in sales of 20%. The manager Cristiano Armati explained that “The attention of our range covers three genres: fiction about countries outside Europe, social issues and historical novels. In honour of the Fair’s guest country, India, Castelvecchi reproposed Passage to India di E.M. Forster, which was appreciated above all Sunday, the day preferred by families”. The bestseller for 2010, with over 220 copies sold, was The smell of cinnamon by Samar Yazbek, who met 5 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

readers at the stand, as did Gillo Dorfles. The most stolen was, instead, Forbidden magic by Cheyenne Mc Cray, particularly appreciated by youngsters.

For Araba Fenice, sales rose by around 20% compared to last year, with prospects of improvements on the final day of the Fair. The book that sold the best was La venturina, by Maria Tarditi, which benefited from a radio reading during the programme Caterpillar, broadcast by Radio 2 on 14 May. No books were stolen, thanks also to the scrupulous surveillance organised by the publisher.

Nino Aragno Editore reported an increase of 40% more in this edition of the Fair. The publisher explained that the rise reflects a constant trend in sales in the recent past. The work that sold best in the five days of the event was L’abbandono della cultura, by Ernst Robert Curtius, while the most stolen book was Il Bel Paese by Antonio Stoppani. The result for Emons Audiolibri was positive. The bestseller was Piccoli suicidi tra amici by the Finnish author Arto Paasilinna and Un’altra vita by Per Olov Enquist. Satisfaction again for Edizioni El Einaudi Ragazzi - Emme edizioni. The books that sold best included Favole al telefono by Gianni Rodari and Le principesse favolose by Silvia Roncaglia. Books by Sabrina Rondineri also sold well.

The result was also positive for the publisher Sellerio. The communications manager Maurizio Vento noted that “We don’t have the final figures yet, but we can certainly say that we have seen a double figure increase. The book that sold the most was Il nipote del Negus by Andrea Camilleri and, in general, all the books by Camilleri were a success. Vento continued: “But we will remember the 2010 edition as the Fair of women.

In fact among the top-selling books were those by Herta Mueller, the 2009 NobelPrize winner, Esmahan Aykol and Teresa Solana. The presence at the stand of these two writers attracted a large audience. Given the enormous success that they had, I do not think they will want to leave Italy again”.

Stampa Alternativa–Nuovi Equilibri: compared to last year the general manager Angelo Leone saw an increase in sales of about 10%: “We sold around 600 books at an average price of approximately15 euro. Certainly, sales also rose for the booklets at one euro: historical titles like Droghe leggere by Vauro and McNudo, or the more recent Ciucciati il calzino! on the wisecracks from the Simpsons. In any case, the books that sold the most were Segni e simboli by Adrian Frutiger and Farsi un libro by Bandinelli, Iacobelli and Lussu”. Among the curious titles: Steal this book by Abbie Hoffman. But there were really very few thefts.

Magenes a publisher in books about the sea, recorded an increase of about 10%. “Last year there was a slight fall, but this year we have recovered”, the manager Francesco Altieri commented. Their bestseller was Il mare di vetro by Andrea Quadraroli, also thanks to the presence of the author at the Fair for two days.

Edizioni Ambiente: “We sold around 10% more compared to last year”, said the manager Edoardo Caizzi. The book that sold the most was certainly Piano B 4.0 by Lester Brown, just out and presented at the Fair on Saturday. There were also good results for Guerra alla Terra, the book edited by Peace Reporter with illustrations by Vauro.

Over 2,000 books were sold by Fandango. Tiziana Triana who was responsible for the stand was very satisfied: “compared to last year we had an increase of 30%. The book that sold the most was L’uomo verticale by Davide Longo, with around 150 copies”.

Among the visitors to the Stand was the writer Roberto Saviano. Some visitors were curious about some bags hanging above the stand with classic quotations signed XY: a 6 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

mysterious signature that the manager did not want to clarify. The mystery will be revealed in about a month.

The publisher Nottetempo, although recording a slight fall in visitors to the stand compared to last year, closed with a satisfactory balance. "Sales went well, above of all for authors making their debut, who we try to propose as our particular vocation” said the stand manager Carla Fiorentino. The most popular book was Quando verrà la rivoluzione avremo tutti lo skateboard, by the author of Iranian origin, now resident in America, Said Sayrafizabeh. "Another successful book was La gioia piccola di essere quasi salve by Chiara Valerio” Fiorentino continued. There was also a good result for the books by Milena Agus". Among the guests that visited the stand and spoke to visitors were the writers Lidia Ravera and Alessandra Petrignani.

Compared to last year Edt saw an increase in sales of 30%. "An excellent result for a publisher specialised in guides" explained the sales manager Lorenzo Pompei. Their bestseller was L'Italia in bicicletta, with good results also for Viaggiare coi bambini and Guida del giovane papà, titles intended mainly for families. The work that was most successful with children was Bestiacce, a fantastic bestiary that stimulates the imagination. Suite for solo guitar was instead the most popular in the music catalogues. Pompei noted that "among the many guests of the stand there was one particular who struck me: a child of 4 who, in the midst of all the bustle of last Sunday, sat down in the middle of the books (he couldn’t even reach the shelves) and began to leaf through some".

The public’s interest was attracted by the literary competition Diamo credito al talento inedito, the initiative promoted by Banca Credito di Cherasco with Agenzia Proposte of Torino in collaboration with the publisher Newton Compton which brought together thirty or so new authors, aged 20 to 40, who presented their unpublished books.

At the stand of Iperborea the result for the five days was considered excellent. “It always goes well at the Book Fair” said Cristina Gerosa, the stand manager. “The bestsellers are Piccoli suicidi fra amici by Arto Paasilinna and Un’altra vita by Per Olov Enquist, one of the great Swedish writers, who as a former athlete, charmed the ladies. Talking of ladies, at our shared stand that included Iperborea, Nottetempo, Emons and Voland, we organised successful aperitifs, one of which attended by Amélie Nothomb.

At the Laterza stand the 2010 edition showed a rise of 20% in sales. The bestseller this year was Scambiarsi la veste by Gustavo Zagrebelsky. La quarta rivoluzione by Gino Roncaglia was also a success, examining the theme of the arrival and spread of the e-book. Appreciation remains constant for an “old” book like that of Culicchia, Torino è casa mia.

Gallucci reports an increase in sales of 30-40%. The communications director, Francesca Pieri, explains, surrounded by forty or so children from two school groups: “The bestsellers are represented by the DVDs, with high quality animation series.

Omaggio a Rossini by Gianini and Luzzati sold all copies. We now have customers among both grown-ups and the youngest, aged 0 to 10. Among the oddities I’d mention the smallest books, in the Orecchie series, which are the cheapest, costing around 4 euro. Traditional books resist in any case”.

The sales of Minimum Fax were stable, as Sena Iannelli explained: “Our numbers are roughly those of last year. Most sales were on Saturdy. We have only one copy left of the bestseller by Fabio Stassi. A supposedly fun thing I’ll never do again by David Foster Wallace also sold well”.

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For Walt Disney, Simona Puzineri commented that “it seemed the school groups were missing.” The best selling book Miles to go rode the wave of the American TV series Hannah Montana, a book written by the leading actress who recounts her life, Miley Cyrus. In second place was Prince di Persia and the third was Toy Story 3.

ADD is a new publisher presented itself this year, a month after its foundation, with two successful titles: Ballando sull’acqua, a novel by Guillermo Mariotto (in the bookshops next week) and Di sana e robusta Costituzione by Gian Carlo Caselli (300 copies sold). “For us the Fair was a great showcase and our prime objective was to get ourselves known” commented Stefano Delprete. Caselli is a very open person, he wanted to talk to the young people, he was enthusiastic. The stylist of the Gattinoni fashion house was surrounded by readers: he fell in love with Turin, went to see the Holy Shroud and posed with all his fans. Silvana Giacobini also came to the stand asking him to exchange their respective books and autograph them. A very cute scene”.

The cheapest books at the 2010 Book Fair were those in the Millelire series, published

by Stampa Alternativa, that reach the public at the cost of 1 euro. The most popular in the series were Ciucciati il calzino! Le migliori battuti dei Simpson edited by Alessandro Paronuzzi and Il Giro del Mondo in 80 gaffe. Barzellette, strafalcioni e sentenze di Silvio Berlusconi edited by Paolo Pedote.

The first year of the international newsagent was very successful. The Italian daily that sold most copies was La Stampa. Of the foreign press, the newspaper that sold the most was Le Monde (France) and the review TLS - Times Literary Supplement (United Kingdom).

About 10,000 people in these five days decided to taste the flavours of the guest country of the 2010 edition and visited the ethnic restaurant Passaggio in India. And there was the usual Autogrill crush: 8,000 hot-dogs, 3,000 kebabs and 30,000 coffees give an idea of the numbers at this food outlet giant that returns every year.

India, Guest Country The result for India as the guest country of the 23rd Fair is extremely positive as demonstrated by the sales figures of the works of the authors and the presence of the public at the meetings promoted by the Punto India.

There was great appreciation for the keynote speech by the writer, teacher and psychoanalyst Sudhir Kakar on Thursday 13 May in the Sala Azzurra. His novel The Indians: Portrait of a People, written with his wife Katharina Poggendorf Kakar sold all copies. His other works of fiction entitled L’ascesa dei sensi, Ecstasy and Storia d’amore indiane were also a success.

Among the most popular meetings was the one with Indra Sinha, author of Animal (Neri Pozza), a Booker Prize finalist. Namita Devidayal, Tishani Doshi and Shobhaa Dé all sold out. The three authors discussed a very topical theme, Women in India. Namita Devidayal is the female author who with The music room achieved the greatest sales success amongst the writers proposed by Neri Pozza. It was all sold out also for Gregory David Roberts and his novel Shantaram, whose title means “man of peace”, soon to be made into a film with Johnny Depp.

One of the stars was the fascinating thirty-five year old Tishani Doshi with Il piacere non può aspettare which sold more than one hundred copies; Shoba Dé; the journalist Tarun Tejpal – defined the “Indian Saviano” with the novel entitled The story of my assassins.

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The public was also very interested in the genre of the graphic novel, whose most wellknown exponent at the event was the author Amruta Patil, who obtained great success with her novel Kari.

The philosopher and economist Prem Shankar Jha also fascinated the numerous public that came to the meeting in the Sala Azzurra on Sunday 16 May, in the course of which he presented the work entitled Crouching Dragon, Hidden Tiger, a work considered by Eric Hobsbawm fundamental for the third millennium, written by one of the few experts on globalisation from a developing country.

The fascination of dance and music literally conquered a concentrated and interested audience in various presentations at the Punto India. On Thursday Kamod Raj Palampuri played the tampura, accompanying the reading of the most beautiful literary pages of Aravind Adiga and Arundhati Roy. On Saturday, instead, many people came to see the dance performance of Radhika Jha, Prem Shankar Jha’s daughter. The world of the painter and poet Tagore found new life in the precious work of Reba Som, a true “ambassador” of Tagore”. The poems by Reba Som of which a reading was performed show a form of poetry centred on the particular nostalgia for the divine that inspires all the writings of Tagore, also capable, perhaps precisely for the support of music, of reaching forms of extraordinary and universal atmosphere.

Memory took off at Bookstock A flood of children, youngsters, teenagers and adults flowed into the Bookstock Village in a wave of curiosity, packing a literary meeting made up of colour, pages, workshops and meetings with protagonists of literature, cinema, radio, music and civil society.

“We can say without any doubt that the Bookstock Village has taken off” said Boosta, the organiser of the cycle Memory seen from the side, and not only for the flight simulator and the planes parked in Pavilion 5: “People listened, laughed and took part: I felt very much in harmony with a highly aware and cultured public”, the Subsonica keyboard player added. Carlo Lucarelli, Giorgio Faletti, Linus, Massimo Picozzi, Giancarlo Caselli, Massimo Carlotto and Luca Streri packed out the Arena in all areas: an average of four hundred spectators at every meeting. Also very popular were the programmes of Coppia Aperta on Radio2 in which Boosta and Benedetta Mazzini hosted Gad Lerner, Davide Ferrario, Max Casacci, Marco Travaglio and Bruno Gambarotta.

The exhibition The experience of flight was much appreciated, with valuable texts on the history of aviation on display and the recontruction of Blériot’s monoplane that crossed the English Channel for the first time in 1909.

At the bookshop for the youngest readers run by Fiaccadori of Parma, Geronimo Stilton, Pimpa, Salani’s classics Istrici flew off the shelves. The bookshop sold books for very young children in English, French, Spanish, German, Polish and even Arabic and Korean, children’s books in Braille and wonderful Japanese pop-up books inspired by origami. Also very popular was the French L’Herbier (Editions Memo), an illustrated book on the trees and leaves of Europe, one of the winners of the 2010 Children’s Book Fair of Bologna.

Excellent sales results were also recorded at the bookshop dedicated to young people from 14 to 21 run by the Libreria Librami of Arona, with takings higher than last year.

Among the books that sold the most were those by Sabrina Rondinelli (Camminare, 9 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

correre, volare and La nostra prima volta) and Mi sono innamorato di te by Gianni La Corte. As far as books on India are concerned, essays were the most popular, especially those on Eastern philosophy. In conclusion, many authors passed by to sign their books on sale and a number of celebrities came by the stand, from Tony Capuozzo to the magician Otelma.

There was also great satisfaction at the International Bookshop, a pilot project that saw its debut at the Book Fair run by the Libreria Luxemburg of Turin. A babble of languages in the books on the shelves: Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, German, Arabic, Polish, Hebrew as well as obviously English. Big numbers for the originals in Indian English of the guests of the Fair’s guest country: especially Anita Nair, Kiran Desai and Wikas Swarup.

The space of The future is the day after organised by Regione Piemonte produced notable results, becoming a vital and important window to monitor the Fair. 40 interviews and outside broadcasts were produced, all published on the web www.wipietv.eu - and taken up on the site of La Stampa. There was also space for 13 videochats with personalities of the calibre of Carlo Lucarelli, Massimo Cacciari or Walter Veltroni. The live videochats were highly successful, receiving a total of more than 7,000 contacts over the five days. Two specials on the Fair were produced for Regione Piemonte’s magazine Dot Point. All the material on line was also visible on Iphones and I-pads. In addition the cycle of 14 events was very popular with the public over the five days.

The borders of the village were a cascade of colour, a journey into fantastic worlds, stories of common and famous animals. The exhibition of Leo Lionni, a great author of books for very young children, first shown in Parma in 2009 ten years after his death, goes back over his partnership with Giulio Giannini, the director who animated th fantasy of his books. From the country of fables, Sarmede, the home to the imminent international exhibition A ritmo d’incanto, fiabe dal Brasile, images of jungles, savannahs, and all animal spaces. Returning after the ninth week of Italian culture in Paris was the biting satire of normality of Corvo Rosso and his Invisibili: Se leggere non è il tuo forte, fanne il tuo debole. Contemporary sketches of a vintage Mickey Mouse and the famous animals of the great Svetlan Junakovic complete the mosaic designed on the perimeter of Bookstock.

The International Book Fair’s blog (bookblog.salonelibro.it) was run by a permanent editorial board of six young people and three teams of young reporters from the 2nd and 3rd years of the Peyron-Fermi middle school of Turin, by class 1E of the classical lyceum Alfieri of Turin and by 14 students from the classical lyceum Ariosto of Ferrara. The blog was a great success: the young bloggers, including those passing through the Fair, left over 200 posts. Numerous interviews were conducted by the young people: from Renzo Arbore to Dario Argento, from Piergiorgio Odifreddi to Shlomo Venezia, from Neri Marcorè to Gian Antonio Stella. A few figures to give an idea of the success: about 3,000 visits by 1,700 unique visitors and 12,000 page views.

Books and chocolate, a love that continues Success once again for the gourmet heart of the Fair: the space Temptation and Meditation, dedicated to the meeting between books and chocolate. A well-informed public, they said at the stands, that knows how to choose, asks questions and knows the characteristics of a praline or a ganache just as they know the plots and styles of writers.

10 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

Numerous personalities and authors animated the debates in the stand. These included Amélie Nothomb, who presented the book by her sister Juliette La cucina di Amélie, Giorgio Calabrese with Cioccolato? Salute!, Gualtiero Marchesi with Andare a tavoletta, Davide Scabin who revealed the secret of his cuisine at Combal.zero, Bruno Gambarotta with Dillo con un gianduiotto and Massimo Gramellini with Dolci trionfi.

Leone went like a train with its gianduiotti and sweets, but above all the Cioccolato Grezzo alla Pietra, which was also bought by the mayor of Turin Sergio Chiamparino and Emanuele Filiberto. Alain Elkann chose instead the Felicin and the Sottilissime of Odilla Chocolat. Avidano’s best-selling specialities were pralines. In addition to praline and gianduiotti, De Martini Torrefazione sold Crema gianduja e miele (a registered trademark), cocoa honey and hazelnut paste, and Ratafià di ciliegie, from an 18th century recipe. Cioccolato Piemont sold and offered tastings of Tartufati Dragèes and Crema Gianduja to Chiamparino, Emanuele Filiberto and Antonio Ricci.

The stand of Fabrizio Galla Chocolate – the world vice-champion confectioner who for four years now has made the cake for the Fair closing ceremony - sold gianduja cream and candied ginger covered with chocolate. Gerla Torino offered cremone gigante da affettare and giandujotti to Roberto Cota, Margherita Oggero, Antonio Ricci. Guido Gobino sold ganaches, cream with salt and extra bitter blend to Amélie and Juliette Nothomb. Guido Castagna sold his gianduja truffles and Shebirè the le Rue di Ciriè chocolate: chocolate and hazelnuts from the Langhe.

Giuseppe Tornatore and Giorgio Calabrese made a visit to the Maestri del Gusto di Torino and the Vie del cioccolato. Giordano cioccolato presented Giacometta e Gianduiotto tagliato a mano, a recipe 113 years old of 1897, to Antonio Ricci, Ernesto Ferrero and Rolando Picchioni. At Pfatisch giandujotti and spreadable creams were offered to Massimo Gramellini. Lorenzo Zuccarello sold bassinari e creme spalmabili, while at Dell'Agnese the ginger-covered drageès bassinati were offered to Alain Elkann.

Success for the IBF, the Fair’s business heart A new record was recorded for the 2010 edition of the IBF – International Book Forum, the Fair’s business area dedicated to the trade in publishing and audiovisual rights for translation and adaptation. There were over 7,500 meetings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday: 1,500 more than in 2009. More than 800 trade professionals came, 120 of whom invited in collaboration with the National Foreign Trade Institute (ICE), from more than 30 countries including Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Germany, Mexico, Romania, Russia, Sweden and the United States. Among them were literary agents, rights holders, producers and publishers’ scouts for the cinema, television and multimedia outlets that bustled around the 200 tables set out at the Lingotto Conference Centre.

Many negotiations were completed successfully: Arlina Dudaj, the owner of the publisher Dudaj Publishing (Albania), acquired the rights for the translation of Bianca come il latte rossa come il sangue by Alessandro D'Avenia from Mondadori, while the agency Kylee Doust bought Che la festa cominci by Niccolò Ammaniti (the previous three had been bought at the fairs of London and Frankfurt).

On the publishing front, visitors included from Great Britain United Agents, Profile Books, from France Buchet-Chastel, from the United States Maria B. Campell Associates, Penguin, Three Percent, Harper Collins, Broadway Books (Rh Group), 11 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

from Canada McArtur&Company, from Brazil Editorial CosacNaifi. The 2010 IBF focussed on India, the Fair’s host country, with the publishers Abhinav Publications, Har-Anand Publications, Diamond Pocket Books, Phi Learning, Pitambar Publishing Company, Planet Multimedia Publisher, Pustak Mahal, Shishu Sahitya Samsad, Star Publications, Sterling Publisher, Laxmi Publications, Tushar Publications and the Bollywood entertainment giant Utv which during its first visit to the IBF discovered a number of very interesting projects on which it intends to work.

From the film industry participation was strong with scouts and literary consultants of major American production companies and talent agencies, such as Columbia Pictures / Sony Pictures Entertainment, Fox International, Metro Goldwyn Mayer/United Artists e International Creative Management (the agency that represents among others Al Pacino, Samuel L. Jackson and Woody Allen), UK firms such as Warp Films, the Swedish Fundament Film, the German Integral Film and the Russian United Film Company. The great vitality of Italian cinema was seen with the significant presence of producers: Wildside, the film/TV production company created through the partnership of Lorenzo Mieli, Mario Gianani, Saverio Costanzo, Fausto Brizzi and Marco Martani; Offside, which is producing the film La solitudine dei numeri primi of Mondadori and Mia sorella è una foca monaca taken from the book published by Fazi.

And Fox Italia, Cattleya, Fandango, Minimum Fax Media. Italians were also protagonists in the programme of meetings and debates reserved for the trade: Italian publishing in the USA: how to tackle the market, what opportunities for Italian publishers aorganised by ICE - Istituto nazionale per il Commercio Estero, in collaboration with Aie – Associazione Italiana Editori; Film on the book: consigli non richiesti agli editori da un autore e regista with the film director Marco Ponti.

Like every year, the accredited participants also have the availability of the IBF Lounge with the wine and food delicacies of Piedmont. Every day, the IFSE - Italian Food Style Education, thanks to the contribution of Regione Piemonte, will offer haute cuisine dishes, bringing out the best in the outstanding products from all the provinces of the region. The now well-established collaboration will continue with GoAsti, with the Consorzio Operatori Turistici Asti e Monferrato and the Consorzio dell'Asti Spumante.

The International Book Forum is an initiative of the International Book Fair, organised

by Biella Intraprendere in collaboration with the national institute for foreign trade (ICE) and made possible by the financial contribution of Regione Piemonte and the Ministry for Economic Development, in the framework of a Ministry-Region-ICE planning agreement.

Media Invasions, e-Book readers fly off the shelves Success for the first edition of Media Invasions, the new area of the Fair dedicated to contemporary cultural productions, which was literally invaded by the public. Over 100 speakers and 8 Invading Designers in the 46 appointments laid siege right from the first day, in particular for the meetings with the Russian writer Dmitry Glukhosvky, the actor Francesco Pannofino and the musicians Max Gazzè and Francesco Baccini.

The 2010 International Book Fair saw the assertion of the e-book, and Media Invasions was the stage for the presentation of e-book readers, the new electronic devices for reding digital books. Numerous models were presented: Kindle, Cool-Er, K8, K9, K10, 12 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

K11, Cybook Gen3, Cybook Orizon and Cybook Opus, the last selling like hot cakes, with over 200 pieces sold.

More than 100 people participated in the qualifying rounds for the World Cyber Games, the Olympics of videogames, and over 2,400 registered for the other tournaments organised for the Fair. The numbers linked to the sale of all the media present was also important, confirmed the success of the formula of Media Invasions: Metro 2033 sold well, the novel by Dmitry Glukhosvsky which has become a video game. Among the most popular comics at the Bookshop were Rat Man by Leo Ortolani. Amongst the video games, New Super Mario Bros for Nintendo Ds crushed the competition, while as far as music is concerned the top spot went to the new CD by Ligabue, Arrivederci Mostro.

Incubator, even a three month old publisher at the Fair “An experience certainly worth repeating. It was very useful to listen to the big distributors. It is important for us to make a direct contact with the market, in addition to presenting our catalogues”, commented Miraggi Edizioni (Turin), the youngest publisher present this year at the Incubator, founded in February 2010.

The fourth edition of the Incubatore saw the participation of 43 publishers, 42 Italian and for the first time one foreign one, the Brazilian Callis, and offered a programme of 42 meetings with over 100 speakers. Among the most popular appointments was Greta Garbo. Become a star forever by Italo Moscati for Edizioni Sabinae (Roma), a book rich in anecdotes, unknown details and curiosities that reveal the legend of the diva and above all how she became immortal. The presentation of BookLed®, the animated book for children was a great success, especially with the very young: a product that, using an innovative system of identifying the page, inserts elements of graphic animation and sound within the traditional illustrated narration.

Enthusiasm was evident amdist the participants at the 2010 Incubator: “The contacts, above all in the first two days, were numerous and turned out to be very interesting. Our products were welcomed warmly both by the trade and visitors”, commented Eugea Edizioni of Bologna. Arkadia Edizioni (Cagliari): “An excellent occasion to establish new contacts, especially with foreign literary agencies. Taking part in the Incubator enabled us, in fact, to also be present at the IBF and discuss with Italian and foreign operators who have been on the publishing scene for many years.” The offer was highly diversified: dall’e-book tradotto in cinque lingue di Faligi Editore to the children’s books of Gradozero Edizioni (Bologna), from the design book-object of Fermoeditore (Parma) to the yoga of Laksmi (Roma). For the first year since it was founded, the Incubatore also proposed professional meetings conceived and organised to advise on the best strategies to move in the market, thanks to which small publishers have been able to establish fruitful relations. Among the meetings most highly appreciated were To grow means distribution. The presence in bookshops, an essential condition, focused on book distribution.

Second year for Incubator...and then!, the project that brings back the publishers of the previous editions of the Incubatore in the area to recount their progress and present their new books. This year five publishers talked about their experience of 2009.

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Katalogando, booksellers meet publishers Result delivered for Katalogando, the appointment for book professionals, in its second edition this year, whose goal is to get new publishers with inependent booksellers and book chains. All the 43 publishers of the Incubatore participated in the 5 conferences in the Katalogando meetings room with the representatives of Feltrinelli, Messaggerie, Giunti al Punto, Librerie Mel bookstore, Aie - Associazione Italiana Editori - and Ali Associazione Librai Italiani.

Katalogando closed on Friday 14 May after over 130 meetings between publishers and 20 bookshops from all around Italy. Those attending were satisfied: “The formula of the meeting was the right one: the co-operation between bookshops and small publishers should be encouraged”, commented Ernesto Cercato of the bookshop Il Quarto Stato of Aversa (Caserta). Manuela Malisano and Paolo Nicli of the bookshop W. Meister of San Daniele (Udine) were on the same wavelength: “This is an opportunity to expand the offering of the bookshop, to discover new publishers to propose to specific customers with particular needs and to establish relations with other booksellers”.

The publishers were also very satisfied with the initiative: “We found the meetings with the distribution giants very useful, who helped us understand what factors count and the mistakes to be avoided”, said Massimo Campora of the publisher Il Piviere and Mario Ferrari of Ilios. The meetings with booksellers were also a success, as Paolo Pellegrini of Caribou confirmed: “Our opinion is very positive. We had direct contacts with two bookshops interested in our products with whom we will soon set up a collaboration agreement.”

A tie knot.

Great demand for the Fair's merchandising products The new merchandising space with the official products of the International Book Fair was a resounding success and objects with the official logo were literally sieged.

20,000 T-shirts were sold before the closure, in particular those celebrating the 23rd edition and those with the slogan Save your space, with the smile wearing a deejay’s headphones.

“Accessible prices with products made in Italy”, underlined the creative director Alberto Maria Lorenzon, the stand manager and product designer. Classic gadgets like diaries, rulers, pencils, key rings and caps, but also fashion products like pure silk ties, tiny watches, sweatshirts with the special system of traceability of guarantee, and the simple T-shirts bearing famous phrases of writers and poets in 18 designs in eight different colours. In the merchandising stand of Pavilion 3 various technological products were on sale such as digital photo frames and the diverse types of USB pen drives. The most original was the wallet 4 gb USB in two cubic centimetres. The most expensive but innovative product was the magnetic world suspended one centimetre from the base and able to rotate at high speed. The least expensive gadget was the floating keyring. The most well-used object was the small and large bag, with a special zip inside made in eco-compatible materials. The prices pleased all pockets and ages.

They went from 35 euros for the sweatshirt, to the 10 for a T-shirt, a little less than 20 euros for the wallet USB pen drive, 2 euros for the key rings, 49 euros for the mappamondo, 5 euros for bags.

14 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

The Jaipur silk shawls and scarves were a great success as prestigious gifts for writers and VIP guests.

Adopt a writer, A model from Piemonte to Italy “It would be wonderful now to export this popular formula of Adopt a writer to other regions of Italy, thanks to the newly founded Centre for books and reading of Rome”.

With these words Ernesto Ferrero, director of the Book Fair, said farewell to the writers and students who participated in the 2010 edition of the project, remembering how, thanks to the Associazione delle Fondazioni delle Casse di Risparmio Piemontesi, the Book Fair and Piemonte have been pioneers in helping to spread the love for reading among the young generations. Important innovations in this year’s edition also characterised the Fair’s final meeting: alongside the veterans, adopted by secondary schools – Andrea Bajani, Gianni Farinetti, Gianluca Favetto, Alessandra Montrucchio, Giancarlo Pastore, Alessandro Perissinotto, Emiliano Poddi, Enrico Remmert, Hamid Ziarati – there were new entries like Mario Calabresi, Michela Murgia, Benedetta Tobagi, Luca Scarlini, Alberto Mittone, Boosta and Daniele Gaglianone.

For the first time the authors of Adopt a writer have gone back to the desks of their schools: Maurizio Crosetti, Silvana De Mari, Giovanni Del Ponte, Antonio Ferrara, Sofia Gallo, Anna Lavatelli, Anna Parola, Sabrina Rondinelli, Bruno Tognolini, Marco Tomatis and Anna Vivarelli were the first to participate in this new section of the project. In addition, the images of the video produced by the staff of Polimedia web Tv of the degree course in cinema and means of communication at the Politecnico di Torino will keep a permanent record of the best moments of this 8th edition.

All took part in the final meeting: it is thanks to their passion and commitment, and that of Fabio Geda and Davide Longo – who followed the project at the Ferrante Aporti juvenile prison– that work will begin on the 2011 edition of Adopt a writer.

Debut with success for the new Piemonte Human Landscape Cultural Park The Piemonte Human Landscape Cultural Park made its debut successfully at the 23rd Fair, the new cultural project that brings together bodies, institutions and associations of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, promoted by Regione Piemonte co-ordinated by Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura. The Cultural Park will join that of the Lands of Wine and Rice that is being created between the Novarese and Vercellese areas around Ghemme and the river Sesia.

The stand hosted around fifty appointments dedicated to five major 20th century authors from the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato areas: Giovanni Arpino, Beppe Fenoglio, Gina Lagorio, Davide Lajolo and Cesare Pavese.

The five days saw a succession of readings, meetings, presentations of books, initiatives, projections of videos and dialogues, most of which were sold out. Most popular were above all the appointments on Saturday 15, dedicated to Pavese, which saw more than 3,000 in the audience, with visitors who were able to hear not only the voice of those 15 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

active in the promotion of the culture and the fine food and wine of the Langhe, Roero and Monferrato, but also to collect information material on these areas.

This was all accompanied by aperitifs with typical local products, enjoyed by more than 200 visitors every evening. Among the most highly appreciated wines were the Barbera from the Cantina Vaglio Serra di Vinchio, Moscato, Dolcetto La Luna e i Falò, Gancia Spumante, the wines of Santo Stefano Belbo and the Terre da Vino of Barolo. The local gastronomic products that delighted the palates of visitors included regional cold cuts, raw beef from Nizza Monferrato, Bra sausage, Cheraschesi, hazelnuts from the Langhe.

Numerous personalities came by the stand: Oscar Farinetti, Bruno Gambarotta, Lorenzo Vallarino Gancia, Sergio Toffetti, the film director Guido Chiesa, the artist Bruno Taricco, the journalist Darwin Pastorin, Bruno Berardi, and the children of the great authors Giovanni Arpino, Beppe Fenoglio, Gina Lagorio and Davide Lajolo.

The literary itineraries Traveling with…, in the places of…, organised from 23 May to 19 September across the territory of the Cultural Park were presented at the stand: journeys into the heart of the landscapes narrated by the five authors, in the company of writers, intellectuals and journalists who will act as guides for a day.

In addition, the Cultural Park has announced to visitors the nights of Bonfires on the hills of Cesare Pavese which will illuminate the hills of Langhe, Roero and Monferrato Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 August: seventeen towns will light bonfires and install luminous fountains in their most panoramic points, for literary evenings accompanied by concerts, dinners, tastings and readings to remember the writers.

Born to Read, awards for the best writers for infants The first edition of the Born to Read National Prize was held successfully at the Fair.

Monday 17 at the Bookstock Arena of the Turin International Book Fair the authors of the best books for infants and the promoters of books for the very young from zero to six years old.

The female Australian author Mem Fox and the British illustrator Helen Oxenbury received the prize in the section Born with Books, dedicated to works for babies from 0 to 36 months) for the book Ten little fingers and Ten Little Toes (Il Castoro, 2009). Beatrice Alemagna, the author of Un leone a Parigi (Donzelli, 2009), won the prize Grow with Books for the very young aged 3 to 6. The Frenchman Eric Battut received the Books under Construction prize for the best unpublished work for the album Lindo Porcello (Bohem Press Italia, coming out in September). Other prizes were given to the Local Health Unit 9 of Treviso for the promotion of reading, to the Neapolitan paediatrician Lina di Maio of the Associazione Culturale Pediatri Campania for the commitment to encouraging reading and finally a special mention went to the national co-ordination unit Per l’Abruzzo which stood out for its work in an emergency situation.

The prize Born to Read acknowledges the awareness that reading aloud to youngsters contributes to the creation of the readers of tomorrow and the balanced development of children. This theme was also discussed at 10.30 in the international conference How reading develops the mind. Ten years of ‘Born to Read’: reflections and prospects. The meeting highlighted the results of the work conducted by paediatricians, librarians and 16 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

volunteer workers to encourage reading aloud to young children. The very young acquire better intellectual skills, and build up an advantage compared to their companions. In disadvantaged social groups, children have a greater possibility of success at school.

Furthermore, for dyslexic students, reading alound facilitates learning.

The date is for the next Fair with the second edition: to keep up to date, www.natiperleggere.it.

The Off-Site Fair is a great success A surprising success for the Salone Off, the calendar of initiatives in various city districts. About 90 events offering meetings with authors, readings, theatrical performances, concerts, projections and exhibitions were held in more than 50 places in the city involving over one hundred Italian and international guests with writers, journalists, artists and musicians, able to attract young and adult enthusiasts.

Conceived by the International Book Fair, the Salone Off was supported by the Culture Department of the City of Turin, Circoscrizione 3 (San Paolo, Cenisia, Pozzo Strada, Cit Turin), Circoscrizione 7 (Aurora, Vanchiglia, Sassi, Madonna del Pilone) and Circoscrizione 8 (San Salvario, Cavoretto, Borgo Po). Bookrunning, the exchange of books that started from the Teatro Colosseo, gave a head start to these appointments, putting into circulation 600 novels, collections of poetry, essays and children’s books in 170 points of the city. Many people exchanged books many times. Both the general public and the shops and bars involved reacted enthusiastically.

In Circoscrizione 3, in the pedestrian area of the Lancia skyscraper, the character of Geronimo Stilton got 700 children to dance and sing; in the same area Gianni Vattimo and Reinhold Messner attracted more than 300 people. Maurizio Maggiani, after meeting the many people who packed the tent to listen to him, offered personal dedications to all the readers. There were many participants at the Argentinian evening with Laura Pariani and the meeting with Tito Stagno and Bruce Sterling in the auditorium of the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo.

In Circoscrizione 7 150 people welcomed Vauro Senesi, filling the room of the Torino Youth Center. Also closely followed were the literary incursions of Fabio Geda and Emiliano Poddi, who presented their works respectively in the midst of the colours and fragrances of the markets of Piazza Santa Giulia and in Piazza Toti. The Shahrazàd library was also packed, where the association Videocommunity projected the short films on emigration African time stories. At the former cemetery of San Pietro in Vincoli Mutamento Zona Castalia presented shows, readings and DJ sets, with an enthusiastic public for Icona–Eikon and Chew-Z. In Circoscrizione 8 the Indian writers Kiran Desai e Shobhaa Dé fascinated the public in the banquet hall of the Castle of the Valentino, to listen to their voices on a country that includes completely contrasting realities. The literary meeting with tastings organised by the Scuola Holden creative writing school at the Mar Rosso restaurant was also sold out, where Andrea Bajani, Elisabetta Chicco, Fabio Geda, Dario Lanzardo, Dario Molino, Alessandra Montrucchio, Eleonora Sottili and Patrizia Varetto were present.

In the schools of the three districts the students were able to meet many authors, including Lia Levi, Matteo Pericoli, Paul Dowswell, Sebastian Fitzek, Flavio Soriga, 17 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it

Elmer Mendoza. On this, the debutante Silvia Avallone, who met the pupils of the Istituto magistrale Domenico Berti, commented: “I was struck by the full hall and the lively audience. In my meeting I found great interest in the students for literature of civil commitment. They asked so many questions on how literature should tackle reality”.

Voltapagina, turn a page to take flight For the fourth year the Book Fair gave life to Voltapagina (Turn a page). Within the walls of the Rodolfo Morandi prison of Saluzzo on every day of the literary happening great personalities also protagonists at Lingotto met the prisoners. Voltapagina is not a name chosen by chance, as it evokes the urgency to close a chapter, insert a line return and at the same time get ready for new horizons.

The key theme, memory, the thick walls that separate the ghosts of the past from the hopes of the future. On Thursday 13 the memory of the war in Chechnya was re-evoked

by Nicolai Lilin who remembered his days as a sniper, recounted in Caduta Libera (Einaudi, 2010), a meeting led by Fabio Geda, the Turin author whose book Nel mare ci sono i coccodrilli is coming out in this period (Baldini Castoldi e Dalai, 2010).

On Friday Benedetta Tobagi, the daughter of Walter Tobagi, the journalist of the Corriere della Sera killed in 1980 by the Brigata XXVIII Marzo, an extreme left terrorist group, helped in the research in her desecrated memory by Giovanni De Luna. On Saturday Walter Veltroni re-evoked the memory of a dream presenting Quando cade l’acrobata entrano i clown (Einaudi, 2010) a book on the tragedy of the Heysel stadium, the day when football lost its innocence. In conclusion, Sunday was the big day for the Oscar prize winner Giuseppe Tornatore, who recounted a mosaic of memory of fifty years of Sicily through the chorus of the inhabitants Baària, the colossal work, his latest, that came out in 2009 and of which Sellerio has published the entire screenplay.

See you in 2011 with the 24th Fair The appointment for the 24th International Book Fair is from Thursday 12 to Monday 16 May 2011, in a year that will again see Torino and Piemonte protagonists in the celebrations for the 150th anniversary of the reunification of Italy and the Raduno Nazionale degli Alpini.

18 Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura Via Santa Teresa, 15 – 10121 Torino – Tel. 011 518 4268 – Fax 011 561 2109 – www.salonelibro.it – e-mail: info@salonelibro.it