Frankfurt Book Fair 2024: OFF Stage Switzerland spotlights Italian-speaking literature

After a successful debut at the Frankfurt Book Fair last year, OFF Stage Switzerland is now ready for its second edition. The programme presenting Swiss literature in multiple languages will primarily focus on productions in Italian, with readings by Matteo Terzaghi and a performance by Marko Miladinović. Thematic highlights include events on generative AI and translations. OFF Stage Switzerland is an addition to Pro Helvetia’s activities at the fair, open to both the public and experts. Other activities include the support for the Swiss collective booth and the mentoring programme ‘Frankfurter Seilschaften’.

In response to Italy’s status as special guest at the Frankfurt Book Fair, OFF Stage Switzerland will be showcasing Italian literature from Switzerland for a whole day (Thursday, 17 October 2024) at the world’s largest book fair. Moreover, Italian-language poetry from Switzerland will be presented at the Italian pavilion, with Laura Accerboni and Marko Miladinović introducing their lyrical work under the heading ‘Una follia bella, la massima allerta’ at the Caffè Letterario (Italian Pavilion, Forum 1, Friday, 18 October).

‘OFF Stage Switzerland takes the book fair’s focus beyond guest country Italy to include a further Italian-speaking region.

In cooperation with cultural practitioners and institutions from the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, OFF Stage Switzerland celebrates a vibrant, cross-border literary scene and will address current issues in a podium discussion.’
Reina Gehrig, Head of Literature at Pro Helvetia

OFF Stage Switzerland will open on Wednesday, 16 October with readings by Flurina Badel («Tschiera», Chasa Editura Rumantscha, 2024) and Selma Kay Matter («Muskeln aus Plastik», Hanser, 2024). Further participants in the five-day programme include Gabriella Zalapì (‘Ilaria ou la conquête de la désobéissance’, Editions Zoé, 2024), Zora del Buono (‘Seinetwegen’, C.H. Beck, 2024) and Matteo Terzaghi (‘Il manuale del fosforo e dei fiammiferi’, Quodlibet, 2024). National and international specialist panels will discuss Italian-language literature, writing in languages with few speakers such as Rhaeto-Romance or Ladin, and key issues in the literature sector today, such as generative AI and the practice of translation. The programme closes on Sunday, 20 October with short readings by Franz Hohler from his book ‘Franz Hohler & friends’ (Luchterhand Literaturverlag, 2024) and MarieMo from ‘Pied-à-terre’ (Antipodes, 2024). Workshops and expeditions through the trade fair are also available for interested members of the public.

Mariann Bühler and Gianna Molinari are the curators responsible for the 2024 programme. ‘OFF Bühne Schweiz once again aims to demonstrate the diversity and multilingualism of Swiss literature and the people who write, translate, publish and promote it,’ they explain. ‘This year for the first time, the programme will take audiences beyond the booth. We are offering a poetic-philosophical excursion through the book fair’s literary landscape under the guidance of writer, geographer and data analyst André Ourednik. And on the days open to the public, we invite visitors to become active themselves – be it by participating in a translation workshop with Annette Hug involving the Philippine language Tagalog, inventing phantasy plants with Lena Studer and Eva Roth, or creating a personal comic zine with MarieMo.’

To the programme

OFF Stage Switzerland

With OFF Stage Switzerland, Pro Helvetia provides a platform for the Swiss literature scene at the world’s largest book fair. The second edition will be held from 16 to 20 October 2024. Its aim is to increase the visibility of Switzerland’s diverse and multilingual literary scene both among literature professionals and the general public, boost international exchange with cultural and business partners, and promote Swiss voices in debates on issues within the literature industry.

The stage, which can be used in a modular fashion, is an eye-catching construction in Hall 3.1. (F122).

About the curators

The 2024 programme is curated by Mariann Bühler and Gianna Molinari.

Mariann Bühler (born 1982 in Central Switzerland) is a writer, literature educator and event manager in various contexts. For her literary production, she was awarded a work grant by the literature committee of the two Basel cantons (2018) and a grant by the literature promotion agency of Central Switzerland (2020). Her first novel, ‘Verschiebung im Gestein’, was published by the Atlantis publishing house in 2024 and has been shortlisted for the Swiss Book Award.

Gianna Molinari (born 1988 in Basel) studied creative writing at the Schweizerische Literaturinstitut in Biel/Bienne and modern German literature at the University of Lausanne. She won the 3sat Award at the Days of German-Language Literature in Klagenfurt, the Robert Walser Prize, and the Clemens Brentano Prize for her debut novel ‘Hier ist noch alles möglich’. The novel was longlisted for the German Book Award and shortlisted for the Swiss Book Award and has been adapted for theatre. Her latest novel is called ‘Hinter der Hecke die Welt’ (Aufbau Verlag, 2023).

About the partners

This year’s partners of OFF Stage Switzerland include the associations Associazione Librai ed Editori della Svizzera italiana (ALESI), LIVRESUISSE, Schweizer Buchhandels- und Verlags-Verband (SBVV), A*dS Autorinnen und Autoren der Schweiz and the European Writers’ Council (EWC), as well as TRADUKI, the Ramon Llull institute, the Swiss Book Award, Literatur Parade, the National Book Development Board from the Philippines and Books at Berlinale.

The OFF Stage Switzerland initiative supplements other measures by Pro Helvetia in support of Swiss literature practitioners at the Frankfurt Book Fair, in particular the Swiss collective booth and the mentoring programme ‘Frankfurter Seilschaften’.

Participants of ‘Frankfurter Seilschaften’ 2024

In collaboration with the association A*dS Autorinnen und Autoren der Schweiz, Pro Helvetia has invited the following six literature practitioners from Switzerland to the book fair: Minda Deol, Maya Olah, Anja Schmitter, Valeska Maria Stach, Maria-Lusie Tzikas and Tanja von Arx-Leitgeb. The goal of the ‘Frankfurter Seilschaften’ programme is to familiarise aspiring young talents with book fair procedures and enable them to forge contacts and networks (‘Seilschaften’) with other literature industry practitioners in an international context. Their mentor this year is Swiss author Tabea Steiner.