There is a lot of literary news this spring, with the nomination of Jeff Schinker for the European Prize for Literature, but also with the prospects of exchanges after a field trip at the Bologna Book Fair and during our national participation at the upcoming Brussels Book Fair.
Field trip at the Children Bologna Book Fair
Kultur | lx organised a field trip to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair from 6th until 8th of March with two Luxembourgish publishing houses specialised in children’s and young adult literature, Kremart Edition and Editions Guy Binsfeld.
The field trip allowed the editors to broaden their network and strengthen already existing ties made through various book projects, thus evaluating the interest of a potential presence of their publishing house in the coming years at this major event. The editors also took advantage of the BCBF to discover the newest trends and perspectives in children’s and young adults literature as well as the different exhibitions of illustrators. Overall, the visit at the BCBF has given the participating editors new ideas and perspectives for interesting new publishing projects.
“It was important for Editions Guy Binsfeld to further develop relationships with other publishers and service providers, to buy licences and sell them in parallel. The next few weeks will show whether and to what extent we have succeeded in this. At the same time, we have deepened already existing relationships with publishers, authors and illustrators and can look forward to joint projects in the future. The sea of outstanding illustrations and concepts as well as the abundance of ideas and nice people ensured that we returned with new books, good contacts to international experts and, above all, a lot of inspiration”, explains Marie Mathieu
Jeff Schinker – Nominee for the European Union Prize for Literature 2023
At the Bologna Book Fair, the nominees for the European Union Prize for Literature 2023 were revealed. Among the 13 authors from 14 countries on the shortlist is Jeff Schinker’s My Life in the Tents.
The nominating organisation for Luxembourg composed by Anne Diderich (Fédération luxembourgeoise des Libraires), Jeanne Glesener (University of Luxembourg), Nathalie Jacoby (Centre national de littérature), Béatrice Kneip (journalist) and Florent Toniello (A:LL Schrëftsteller*innen), has selected Ma vie sous les tentes by Jeff Schinker for its unflinchingly honest look at a way of life in which the fear of mediocrity and solitude drives every move and every sentence in search for connections that transcend the seemingly unremarkable and for its insightful exploration of the sociology of festival life.
The winner of the EUPL 2023 and the five special mentions will be announced on 28 April at a ceremony at the Leipzig Book Fair (where Kultur | lx will be present for the first time with six publishers on a national stand).
First national presence at the Brussels Book Fair
This will be Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg’s first time exhibiting at the Luxembourg booth at this major event.
Four Luxembourg publishers – Capybarabooks, Hydre Editions, Kiwi E.L.G. and PassaParola Editions – have opted to take advantage of this opportunity to exhibit their latest French-language releases in literature, non-fiction and children’s books at the Brussels Book Fair (30 March to 2 April 2023).
In addition to the stand where Antoine Pohu will sign his new novel Parfois la nuit se tait (Capybarabooks, 2023) on Saturday 1st April from 02:00p.m. to 03p.m., on Sunday 2 April at 10.00 a.m., a meeting and reading will be organised around the theme: ‘Transgressions et perspectives féministes’ with Tullio Forgiarini and Nathalie Ronvaux.
Kultur | lx invites you to discover authors and publishers on Instagram from Wednesday 15 March before meeting them at stand no. 209 at the Brussels Book Fair.
From 6th until 8th of March, Kultur | lx organises a field trip to the Bologna Children’s Book Fair with Kremart Edition and Editions Guy Binsfeld, one of the most important meetings for the children’s publishing industry.
Celebrating its 60th anniversary, the fair attracts over 1400 exhibitors and around 30000 professional visitors like publishers, illustrators, graphic designers, literary agents, authors, translators, booksellers, distributors and many more. This field trip allows the Luxembourgish editors specialised in children’s and young adults literature to present their publishing programme, dialogue as well as make new contacts with international professionals from the children’s publishing industry. With a diverse programme and the famous Illustrators Exhibition and industry, the BCBF also gives an overview of new trends in children’s literature.
The Rencontres d’Arles is the most important photo festival in Europe. Thanks to the initiative of Lët’z Arles, artists from the Luxembourg scene have been able to present a project there since 2017.
Following a slightly different format from past editions and in order to give a specific opportunity to an artist already registered in the history of Luxembourg photography to exhibit in Arles, the nominators of Lët’z Arles submitted to an international jury composed of experts in photography, proposals of names of photographers likely to be shown during this 5th edition.
The jury, which met in April 2020 (at that time there was still a question of choosing the artist for the 2021 edition, which was finally postponed to 2022), unanimously chose the photographer Romain Urhausen to embody the Luxembourg presence at this edition. When his selection to exhibit in Arles was announced, the artist was deeply moved and delighted by this opportunity. He quickly began fruitful exchanges with the curator Paul di Felice, in order to build the exhibition’s itinerary together. Following the artist’s death in July 2021, the preparatory work for the project continued without his complicit gaze, but with respect for his mischievous spirit, thanks to the collaboration of his relatives and the lenders of his works.
Prolific, but little known in France, the photographic work of the Luxembourger Romain Urhausen is distinguished by his singular style between the French humanist school and the German subjective school of the 1950s and 1960s, to which he actively contributed. Often a pretext for formal and poetic exploration, his photographic subjects, also tinged with humour, go beyond a classical representation of reality. The themes that punctuate the exhibition show how everyday life, people at work, the urban landscape, the nude or the self-portrait are approached through a plastic and experimental approach. The subjective aesthetic, learned from Otto Steinert, has left its mark on Romain Urhausen’s formal language, his way of dealing with contrasts and framing, but also his way of looking at the world differently. This vision is highlighted in the exhibition, which puts the author’s photographs in dialogue with those of his peers, creating new “elective affinities”.
“Romain Urhausen en son temps”
Curator: Paul di Felice
From 4 July to 25 September 2022 at the Rencontres photographiques d’Arles – Espace Van Gogh
An exceptional collaboration with delpire & co*
As a result of an exceptional collaboration with Lët’z Arles and the NAC, a book dedicated to Romain Urhausen will be published by the French publishing house specialising in photography, delpire & co. The bilingual book (French/English) presents a selection of 48 photographs by Romain Urhausen, accompanied by a text by Paul di Felice and a contribution by critic and author Carolin Förster on Subjektive Fotografie. The exhibition includes graphic works, often captured using experimental techniques, as well as his famous photographs of Les Halles, taken before the Pavillon Baltard was demolished in 1971.
* With the support of Kultur | lx – Arts Council Luxembourg