Gypsy&Roma literature was presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair for the first time in history in the Gypsy&Roma Pavilion arranged by International Roma Writers Union IRWA, presided by Veijo Baltzar. The event was historical also because minority literature had never before been in an equal position with other nations at the book fair.
The Roma of Europe, who number around 25 million, were represented facing the pavilion of the Guest of Honor Norway and shoulder to shoulder with the Nordic countries, Italy and East Europe.
Numerous discussions and presentations were held at the Gypsy&Roma Pavilion, which evoked
intercultural dialogue between Roma, German, Nordic and Sami people among others.
Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway visited the pavilion together with Jürgen Boos, the President and CEO of the fair.
The project started in 2018, when the president of the Buchmesse, Juergen Boos, invited Mr. Baltzar to negotiate over cooperation concerning Gypsy literature. Representatives of the European Commission (Themis Christophidou), Amazon Publishing (Gabriella Page-Fort) and PEN International (president Jennifer Clement) supported the project.
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Check these articles written about the pavilion
"The Gypsy Pavilion Stages Romani Culture"
