International Book Fair

The Rio de Janeiro Fair Book is the largest event of this kind in Brazil. It is held is the odd years and lasts about ten days; last event happened from 12th to 22nd May 2005; next event will be in 2007.
Visit the homepage in English of the Rio de Janeiro International Book Fair.

History

In 1983, the conference rooms of the Copacabana Palace Hotel staged the 1st Rio de Janeiro International Book Fair, and comprised approximatelly 1,000 square meters. Two years later the event was transfered to the São Conrado Fashion Mall. In 1987 the Book Fair moved to Riocentro, with 15,000 square meters.
Since then, the Rio de Janeiro International Book Fair has been the most important publishing event in Brasil, held in the odd years. It is a cultural event that mobilizes the entire nation, and it surpasses all expectations in terms of the number of visitors, sales, and media. The growth has averaged 30% annually.

The 2005 Fair

The 2005 edition had 630 thousand visitors, setting a new record.
About 45% of visitors were aged between 15 and 24 years old, up from 30% in the prevous edition. This shows that the interest of Brazilian youngsters by literature is growing.
The sales also increased. This year, 2.3 million books were sold directly to the public, 44% more than in 2003. The books were sold for R$ 41.5 million, 17 % more than in 2003.
Other statistics: women were 59% of the public, men were 41%; number of visitors who attended high school or superior schools were 39% in 2003 and 46% in 2005; the average permanence of visitors was three hours in 2003, four hours in 2004.

France was the Honored Country of this edition; many French writers attended the Fair: David Foenkinos, Dominique Wolton, Evgen Bavcar, Gilles Lapouge, Hafid Aggoune, Jean-Christophe Rufin, Lolita Pille, Marc Levy, Marie Darrieussecq, Martin Page, Michel Butor, Mireille Guiliano, Sébastien Lapaque, Serge Patient, Stéphane Heuet, Tony Cartano.
Other foreigner authors who attended the fair: Tom Wolfe, Colm Tóibín, DBC Pierre (Peter Finlay), Dulce Maria Cardoso, José Eduardo Agualusa, José Ovejero, Lars Saabye Christensen, Oliver Sacks.
Brazilian authors: Adriana Falcão, Antonio Olinto, Ana Maria Machado, Autran Dourado, Clarah Averbuck, Eduardo Escorel, Ferrez, João Paulo Cuenca, Lygia Fagundes Telles, Moacyr Scliar, Paulo Lins, Ruth Rocha, Ruy Castro, Sérgio Rodrigues, Silviano Santiago .


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