London Book Fair 2018

London Book Fair 2018 was successfully held from April 10 – 12, 2018 at Olympia, London. The 47th show hosted publishers, authors, writers and readers from over 130 countries.

The three days at London Book Fair were abuzz with activities on the show floor, with numerous business dealings, interesting and eye-opening sessions, discussions and seminars and welcome who’s who of the industry. Here are a few glimpses from the show:

Author of the Day Joanna Trollope discussed how we learn more in fiction than we do in real life.

“Donald Trump” visited the Oval Office at the Fair to mark the campaign launch of Bill Clinton and James Patterson’s upcoming crime fiction novel, The President is Missing (Penguin Random House).

Best-selling author David Baldacci shared his writing tips in Author HQ, proving why he has published over forty novels and sold more than 130 million copies worldwide.

Kit de Waal sat down to chat with author Cathy Rentzenbrink to discuss de Waal’s new book, The Trick to Time, a tale of love and loss in 1970s Birmingham.

The LBF welcomed the Baltics as the Market Focus for 2018.Over the three days of this year’s Fair, Market Focus Baltic Counties saw twelve of the most prominent and engaging writers from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania to The London Book Fair, including the Market Focus Authors of the Day Kristina Sabaliauskaite (Lithuania), Nora Ikstena (Latvia) and Mihkel Mutt (Estonia) speaking across LBF. Altogether there were over 25 events celebrating literature and publishing in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania across LBF and an exhibition of illustrations from the Baltic Countries in the Children’s Hall.

Gyles Brandreth took part in the launch at The Club at the Ivy in memory of iconic literary agent Ed Victor.

The Publishers Association brought together some great minds to discuss “A Bookish Brexit”, how the UK can keep its role at the heart of the global publishing industry leaving the EU.

There was a celebration of the language and literature of one of Europe’s smallest nations, Montenegro, following the recent decision by the International Organisation for Standardisation to officially recognising Montenegrin as a separate language from Serbian.

Iconic book brand Mr. Men and Little Misses were under the spotlight as LIMA licensing discussed how this brand has managed to find a place in so many hearts over the past forty years.

Educational publishers and technology providers gathered for the What Works Education Conference to discuss how technology is disrupting learning.

The International Excellence Awards, held in partnership with The Publishers Association, were held on the first day of the show. The awards are a celebration of publishing and related activities outside the UK. The awards ceremony also included the presentation of the prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award to Sara Miller McCune, Founder and Executive Chairman of SAGE Publishing. Besides, The London Book Fair Simon Master Chairman’s Award was bestowed on Asoke K. Ghosh, Chairman and Managing Director, PHI Learning (India) while Accessible Books Consortium International Excellence Award: Initiative was given to Daisy Forum of India.

Poet of the Fair Imtiaz Dharker joined the Poetry in Motion stream to talk about her life and work, from her upbringing in Scotland to her winning the Queen’s Gold Medal for poetry. It has proved a great year for poetry in general as Nielsen Bookscan revealed that the industry has just achieved record growth in terms of volume and value of sales.

In celebration of National Pet Day, Willow the cocker spaniel toured the Fair for some canine reportage. She met with author Manjeet Hirani and her illustrator Missy Dunaway who have just published How to be Human, Life Lessons by Buddy Hirani (Manjeet’s dog), and even found time to fill in for the President in the Oval Office.

American-Mexican author Jennifer Clement, the first woman to be elected President in PEN International’s almost 100-year history, presented in the English PEN Literary Salon. PEN International was founded in 1921 to promote cooperation between writers around the world.

The inaugural UK Book Blog Awards were presented, celebrating social media influencers and their important contribution to the book industry.

As the Market Focus Baltic Countries programme drew to a close, The London Book Fair (LBF) and its UK partners, The Publishers Association (PA) and the British Council, celebrated the success of this year’s programme with its Baltic Country partners the Estonian Literature Centre, Writers’ and Translators’ House, Latvia and the Lithuanian Culture Institute and welcomed next year’s Market Focus country Indonesia.