Turin International Book Fair Kicked Off
16 May 2025
On Thursday May 15, the Salone Internazionale del Libro Torino, the Turin Book Fair, kicked off. The Netherlands is this year’s Guest of Honour at Italy’s largest bookfair. In the next few days, we will present the wealth of the Dutch in Literature with the motto La Scoperta dell’Olanda (The discovery of the Netherlands).
During the grand opening ceremony of the Dutch stand, Dutch Ambassador Willem van Ee, Director of the Turin Bookfair Silvio Viale and Romkje de Bildt, Director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature, delivered speeches. Apart from that, they received an essay collection on classics of Dutch Literature, written by Franco Paris, full Professor of Dutch Literature and Marco Prandoni, professor of Dutch language and culture.
Romkje de Bildt, managing director of the Dutch Foundation for Literature: ‘We are proud that Dutch literature has been able to find its way to Italian readers in recent years, with increasing numbers of translations.’
During the first day of the Turin Bookfair, Dutch authors Jan Brokken, Hanna Bervoets and Anya Niewierra and graphic novelist Aimée de Jongh took the stage, and were interviewed about their translated titles in Italian. Children’s books author Gideon Samson engaged in conversation with students who read Giorni sull'isola and prepared questions.
The Netherlands will showcase its literature and culture to the Italian audience until May 19.