VILNIUS - Most people love to indulge themselves now and again with a good book. But let's be honest 's people at the Vilnius Book Fair are simply obsessed with books. However, going there can be a very rewarding experience, if only for the little chats with writers who just happen to be passing by, and the heady in-love-with-books atmosphere.
The fair kicks off on Feb. 10 at the Litexpo Exhibition Hall and will run for four days. Over 200 participants from Lithuania, Belarus, Poland, Japan, Sweden and Slovakia will be taking part, with the special guest this year being the Goteborg Book Fair.
On top of that, more than 100 special events will be held throughout the four-day event, including concerts, plays and exhibitions.
However, the real reason why most nonindustry people attend the fair is for the unique opportunity it affords them to meet with writers and to discuss their work. Besides national literary stars such as Rolandas Rastauskas, Sigitas and Juozas Erlickas, another 15 internationally known writers from Denmark, the U.K., Iceland, Italy, France, Australia, Sweden, Germany and Finland will be attending.
Niccolo Ammaniti is one of the most eagerly awaited guests at the fair this year. Considered one of Italy's best young novelists around, his greatest success so far has been his novel "I'm Not Scared," which earned him numerous awards and abundant praise.
Ammaniti deftly handles an incredible plot twist by craftily conveying the thoughts, fantasies and fears of a 9-year-old boy. Kidnapping and organized crime have been the basis of countless thrillers, but Ammaniti's novel is altogether more engrossing and wider in scope.
The extraordinary power of his narrative lies in its simplicity with staccato short sentences and snappy paragraphs. But then again, the adventure takes place in a child's mind inhabited by creatures of real and imagined terror, which makes the reader struggle to put this short novel down before the end.
Another European star 's the Danish writer Jens Christian Grondahl 's will also be visiting the fair. Grondahl is best known for his spellbinding novel "Silence in October," which is a superb work of storytelling. Capturing the essentially awkward aspect of human interaction, Grondahl writes about the dissolution of marriage by exploring the unfathomable chasm between men and women.
Another guest, the Australian author Colleen McCullough has written many popular novels such as the record-breaking international best seller "The Thorn Birds," "Morgan's Run" and her "Masters of Rome" series. Highly acclaimed British author Melvin Burgess will also be present. Burgess (photo above) is one of the best and most controversial authors of teenage fiction in the U.K. Many people have said his books are the one good antidote for adolescents who say reading is a waste of time and boring. Give them a copy and they might even start to enjoy reading. It's a point that industry bigwigs at the Vilnius Book Fair would do well to take notice of.
