Finally, after a two-year hiatus, we were able to attend the Bookfestival again. The event, organized for the 27th time this year, took place at Millenáris Park between September 29 and October 2. The guests of honor at this year’s festival were the Nobel laureate Svetlana Alexsijevic and Slovakia. Parallel with the Bookfestival, the European First Novel Festival took place as well.
For me, the festival is not only interesting because of the book fair, but we also have the opportunity to get a glimpse into the literary life of other countries, as the exhibitors often have booklets in which we can read some excerpts from the works of the writers of the given country in English or Hungarian translation. This year, I managed to acquire Romanian and Slovak book catalogs, together with the booklet of the European First Novel Festival, as well as an exclusive volume presenting the winners of the European Union Prize for Literature.
I received books for review from Maxim Kiadó, for which I would like to express my gratitude! I’ve already read B.B. Alston’s debut novel entitled Amari and the Night Brothers and Emma Steinkellner’s graphic novel the Okay Witch, both in English, but I’m also very interested in the Hungarian translations.
I was so lucky that the writer Ágnes Mészöly not only dedicated her book Rókabérc, haláltúra (Fox Hill, Death Tour*) to me, but also her new novel, Megrajzolt gyilkosságok (Drawn murders*) (the publication of the latter I learned from her on the day).
And at the Geopen Kiadó stand, I bought the book I had been looking for such a long time, The Elephant Vanishes by Haruki Murakami, republished last year, with a nice matching tote bag.
On the afternoon of Friday, September 30, the Bestsellers Bookshop, which is located near the Basilica, celebrated its 30th birthday. You can find books and magazines mainly in English here, but publications in other languages are also on offer and can be ordered as well.
I bought Once Upon a Crime by Robin Stevens, which is the last, short story volume of the Murder Most Unladylike series. I recently wrote about this series that has become one of my new favorites. The penultimate volume of Anna James’ Pages & Co series was published in this September, so I was able to get this one as well.
It was a great experience to be at the Bookfestival again and I’m already looking forward to the next one!
*my translation
