It’s Women in Publishing (“Bücherfrauen“) Germany’s 25th anniversary this year. There is a big celebration coming up at the Frankfurt Book Fair this week, and here is my tribute to this great network.
First I woul like to clarify something: I don’t want any men to freak out and think with an organization like this, women want to turn things around and try and dominate you now 😉
Women in Publishing’s motto is: “For women, but not against men”.
The network was founded because there have always been a lot of women working in publishing, but in the beginning there was no woman at all at the top and even today there are still not that many.
I wrote about the power of networking earlier in another article and Buecherfrauen have certainly been a powerful network for me. Many years ago, I joined them in Germany, I attended events and sometimes helped organizing them as well. I would now like to say thank you to some of the women that I met somewhere along the way:
First of all thank you Marlies for telling me about the network in the first place. Thank you also to my first small local group in the North-West of Germany in the Bielefeld/Osnabrück area about 15 years ago for welcoming, inspiring and motivating me to follow my passion. Thank you to Inge, who was part of the group and introduced me to a big publishing house. And Inge did a great job last year editing “Pentecost”, the first self-published book that I translated into German. Thank you to Eva for offering to let me sleep on her couch in Frankfurt this year in case I wouldn’t find any other place to stay – it is a shame I can now not make it, but I hope I will be able to attend again next year!
Thank you to everyone whom I have met during all these years. And when I moved to London, it was only natural to join the sister organisation Women in Publishing in the UK – I was part of the committee here for several years and it was great to make new friends and continue networking in a different country, but in a similar way.
Here’s to everyone who has contributed to making the organization a success.
[If you are reading the following dates after October 2015, they will be outdated, but there are other interesting events at the Book Fair each year]These are the details of the main event at the Frankfurt Book Fair:
There will be an award ceremony for the “Woman in Publishing of the Year”, the prize goes to Frauke Ehlers, long standing member of the network, the laudatory speech will be held by Silke Weniger and a welcoming speech by Federal Minister Manuela Schwesig, followed by the actual party.
Thursday, 15/10/2015
4:30 – 6:30 pm
Reading Zone of Independent Publishers
4.1 C37
Exhibition site
Before this event at the same place from 3.30 – 4.30 pm there is another one, also organized by Buecherfrauen:
A talk with Indonesian Women in Publishing about literature and the book trade in Indonesia – the country is the Fair’s guest of honour this year.
Participants:
Laura Prinsloo of Kesint Blanc Publishing
Kartini Nurdin of Yasayan Pustaka Obor
chaired by Eva Streifeneder
In addition, you can find Buecherfrauen at their stall 4.1 D55
You might also be interested in the following Book Fair event:
LiBeraturpreis 2015: Madeleine Thien
The LiBeraturpreis is the only German literature prize that is awarded exclusively to women from Africa, Asia, Latin America or the Arab World. In 2015, Madeleine Thien will receive the award for her novel “Dogs at the Perimeter” (German title: “Flüchtige Seelen”, Luchterhand 2014, translated by Almuth Carstens), which deals with the repercussions of the terror regime of the Khmer Rouge.
Saturday, 17/10/2015
4.30 – 5.30 pm
Venue:
Weltempfang – Stage, 3.1 L25, Exhibition site
And if you speak German, you may like to read another tribute to Buecherfrauen, written by German author Nina George.
Related article: The Power of Networking
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