The annual literary fair Non/fiction, one of the key events in literary life and industry, opens in Moscow. This year it takes place against the backdrop of bookstores closing down in Russia, as they are unable to compete with marketplaces. Non/fiction itself is also losing to online retailers; there are discounts at the fair, but even they cannot always outweigh the offers on the web. Top foreign authors do not come to the fair. The main challenge faced by Non/fiction is how to attract visitors to the event with paid admission. "Izvestia" compiled its list of books, for which you should definitely go to the fair, and tried to understand how it solves its problems.
Non/fiction restores its international status
Non/fiction is held for the 26th time, the status of an international fair of intellectual literature, it has been held since 1999. Every year, until 2022, Non/fiction selected a country as a guest of honor. After the departure of major Western rights holders from Russia, the departure of a number of popular domestic authors and the rising cost of book production, the festivals faced new challenges. For example, in 2022 Non/fiction for the first time had no foreign participants. But the fair still did not give up its international status, and in 2023 it began to be held in the spring, that is, twice a year.
Now the emphasis is on domestic authors and their novelties, as well as on Asian literature, which continues to show an unprecedented growth of reader interest. Thus, on December 8 at Non/fiction will discuss the success of Korean writer Han Gang - winner of this year's Nobel Prize for Literature. However, the discussion will be held without Han Gang. On the same day, the Chinese writer Tangxia Guiyuan, author of the sensational book series "Phoenix Rising", based on which the equally popular dorama of the same name was filmed, will visit Moscow.
In the days of the 26th Non/fiction will be held a large International Literary Forum, the guests of which will be representatives of 35 countries. Writers, translators, scientists and publishers from Italy, Spain, China, France, Germany, Serbia, Greece, Turkey, CIS countries will discuss the problems of modern book industry. For the first time in a long time people of literature from almost all over the world will gather on one platform. Paolo Nori, an Italian author and translator, thanks to whom Dostoevsky, Pushkin, Akhmatova, Kharms, Khlebnikov and many others are read on the Apennine Peninsula, will visit the capital again. His interview with Izvestia can be read here.
It is still more profitable to buy books on marketplaces
We have already repeatedly written about the main scourge of modern book fairs, namely the confrontation between retailers and marketplaces. And we still state that the big three represented by "Red Square", Moscow International Book Fair and Non/fiction are losing this battle. Despite the fact that many publishers at Non/fiction sell books with a wide range of discounts - from 10 to 30%, it is still more profitable to buy them online. Non/fiction is the hardest in this case, because the days of the winter fair usually coincide with the start of New Year discounts on marketplaces.
- Back in 2022, we recorded a sharp increase in the cost of books, about 25-30%. Prices increased by 10-15%. The price increase has become a record for at least the last five years, - reminded journalists on the eve of the fair the president of the Russian Book Union (RBC) Sergei Stepashin. - Unfortunately, our bookstores are closing down.
The entrance ticket to Non/fiction for one day now costs 450 rubles. But let's take last year. Then at the December Non/fiction "Song of Achilles" by Madeleine Miller could be bought for 800 rubles, while on Ozon the same printed book was offered for 500 rubles. An indicative difference, which will clearly persist this time. Now, however, this book can not be found at the fair at all, as its realization is suspended from April 2024 "due to violation of legal requirements". Many literary holdovers disappear from the shelves after the relevant recommendations of the expert council, recently created on the basis of the Russian Book Union.
- The expert council included representatives of various literary supervisory bodies, writers and publishers. There were 21 appeals, mostly from the Ministry of Digitization. And we consider these or those publications on this council. Let's be honest, there are some really lousy books. In such difficult times, there will be scoundrels on both sides. We don't have the right to demand that these books be removed from stores, but if we make recommendations, they are carefully removed. I really do not want this to become a trend, because Alexander Griboyedov comes to mind with his most relevant work "Woe from Wit" and Famusov's words: "If we were to stop evil, we should take all the books and burn them. We will definitely not follow this path, but we will be extremely attentive to what is going on today, - said the head of the RCC Sergey Stepashin.
What to go to the fair for
For impressions, for acquaintances and for a really intellectual cultural program for readers of all ages. Yes, books are growing in price, and marketplaces insidiously lure with seasonal discounts, but nothing compares to the feeling when you hold in your hands an edition, received from the heat of the moment. Especially if it is also signed by your favorite writer like Evgeny Vodolazkin or translator like Anastasia Zavozova, whose lectures you have just listened to in one of the glass rooms at Non/fiction. Anastasia herself can often be found at the booth of the House of Stories publishing house, of which she is also editor-in-chief. So just to talk to the translator into Russian of novels by Donna Tartt and Hanya Yanagihara is, in a way, priceless.
In addition, Non/fiction brings together the best publishers and bookstores from all over Russia: from giants like "Eksmo-AST" to St. Petersburg "Yellow Court" and very tiny publishers, for whom each book is a pearl, an event of the whole year. Especially for its readers, Izvestia has collected a small list of samples of foreign literature, which are definitely worth a look at Non/fiction.
Robert Sapolsky
"Everything is decided: life without free will".
A new book from the famous neuroscientist, author of the bestseller "The Biology of Good and Evil", explaining human behavior with the help of science. This time Sapolsky explores the nature of decision-making and challenges the existence of the nature of will.
Inagaki Sugimoto's Enzu.
"Samurai's Daughter"
The daughter of a high-ranking samurai travels across the ocean to marry an Ohio merchant. The autobiographical novel was published back in 1925. Before the writer's eyes, Japan was saying goodbye to its feudal past and embarking on a path of modernization that began with the Meiji Restoration.
Claire Koda
"Woman, Hunger."
A poetic and melancholy novel of growing up about a vampire girl and a best book of 2022 according to Harper's Bazaar, Daily Mail, Glamour and Thrillist.
Britney Spears
"Britney Spears: The Woman in Me."
The title of the book and its author speak for themselves. The scandalous, candid memoirs of the pop icon of the 2000s concentrate not on the moments of fame, but on the dramatic part of Britney Spears' life. Here, it's about her relationship with Justin Timberlake, the pressures she faced as a rising star, her complicated motherhood and also her father's custody.
Tenlo Weizhi
"Bright Ashes of the Moon."
A Chinese fantasy novel that not so much became a bestseller in its home country, but also formed the basis of a popular TV series of the same name. Fans of "The Blessing of the Celestials" and "The Blue Whisperer" are a must-read.
Salman Rushdie
"The Knife."
Another autobiographical novel in which the Booker Prize winner first tells of a real-life assassination attempt on him in 2022. During a lecture in the American town of Chatoqua about how dangerous a writer's life can be, Rushdie was attacked by a man and stabbed several times. The attacker was detained, and the writer himself was rushed to the hospital.
"Photogeny."
Louis Delluc
A new edition of one of the premier books in film studies. In 1920, critic and one of the fathers of film theory Louis Delluc laid the foundations of the photogenic concept in his work. In 1924 it was translated into Russian for the first time, and 100 years later the publisher "Cloudberry" presents a more complete and accurate translation of "Photogeny", with many illustrations and an extensive scientific commentary.
Yukio Mishima
"A Girl from a Good Family."
A novel by the classic of Japanese literature, published in Russian for the first time. At the same time a satire on the Japanese intelligentsia and a study of how a woman changes in marriage.
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