In 2012 New Zealand was guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair. The extensive coverage in Germany of New Zealand literary and cultural life resulted in a surge in translation, publication and sales of New Zealand books. German interest in New Zealand had previously focused on the environment.
New Zealand's Frankfurt Book Fair project director Tanea Heke (right) is shown here accepting the Frankfurt Scroll. Beside her are (from left) Halldor Gudmundsson (of Iceland, the 2011 guest of honour) and Juergen Boos (fair director). The scroll is passed on from one guest-of-honour country to the next. Each country adds a layer of inscribed perspex. New Zealand's inscription included author Katherine Mansfield's desire in 1916 'to make our undiscovered country leap into the eyes of the Old World', and poet Bill Manhire's wry statement – 'I live at the edge of the universe, like everybody else'.
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
by Fernando Baptista
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