The publishers - Turbine Forlaget from Denmark, Bloomsbury Berlin from Germany, Seuil from France, Salani and Orecchio Acerbo from Italy, Dwie Siostry from Poland, WingedChariot from the United Kingdom, Arthur A. Levine from the United States and Protea from South-Africa - met with authors, illustrators, specialists, scientists, publishers and organisations, and were given a literary tour of Antwerp and Ghent.
In the morning, the foreign publishers would meet with Flemish colleagues. In the afternoon, they'd learn about the Flemish children's book market in a less formal way. Highlights were the opening reception in the Nottebohm room of the National Heritage Library Hendrik Conscience in Antwerp, an authors' programme at HETPALEIS, where six Flemish authors spoke about their recently published historical youth novels and what inspired them to write these stories, an open workshop with fifteen illustrators at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent, and a guided visit of the Antwerp Royal Museum of Fine Arts in the company of Flemish writers. (Download the full programme.)
It may be too early to talk about results, yet the FLF as well as the Flemish publishers are optimistic. South-African publishing house Protea has already applied for a grant to translate ‘Vos en haas' (‘Fox and Hare' by Sylvia Vanden Heede and Thé Tjong Khing, Lannoo). A picture book by Carll Cneut (De Eenhoorn) and youth novel ‘Jonkvrouw' (‘Milady' by Pat van Beirs en Jean-Claude Van Rijckeghem, Standaard Uitgeverij) are also on their radar. The American Arthur A. Levine and the Italian Salani also showed an interest in the latter book, ‘Milady'. Berlin-based Bloomsbury has decided to publish ‘Mijn familie, een reis door de tijd' (‘My family, travels in time' by Ann De Bode, De Eenhoorn). More decisions are expected to be made during the book fair of Bologna, end of March.
The previous edition of the publishers tour for children's and youth literature, in February 2008, had also proven to be quite a success. Not only did the previous nine foreign visitors build lasting relationships with Flemish and Dutch publishers, the tour also resulted in various translations which were supported by the FLF. Examples are: ‘De vrouw en het jongetje' (‘The woman and the little boy' by Geert de Kockere and Kaatje Vermeire, De Eenhoorn) and ‘Een griezelmeisje' (‘A freaky girl‘ by Edward van de Vendel and Isabelle Vandenabeele, De Eenhoorn) both published in Spanish by Barbara Fiore, the Norwegian translation of ‘Een miljoen vlinders' (‘One million butterflies' by Edward van de Vendel and Carll Cneut, De Eenhoorn) and ‘Allemaal willen we de hemel' (‘We all want heaven' by Els Beerten, Querido) at Capellen Damm, and the German publication of ‘Niets is alles wat hij zei' (‘Ben X' by Nic Balthazar, Averbode) and ‘Allemaal willen we de hemel' (‘We all want heaven' by Els Beerten, Querido) by Fischer Verlag.
From 31 May to 4 June, the FLF will organize its first ever publishers tour for adult fiction. Eight foreign publishers will be submerged in the literary scene of Flanders. For the occasion, the FLF has planned yet another full programme including meetings with authors and publishers, visits to the Museum of Flemish Literature and some book stores, as well as an authors' event.
