Seoul International book fair kicks off

The Seoul International Book Fair, which kicked off Wednesday, will be held under the theme of “metamorphosis” at the World Trade Center in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul, through Sunday.

Some 161 local book publishers and 23 book stores, along with 80 overseas publishing companies from 18 countries, including Turkey and Canada, are participating in the five-day event.

This year, instead of publishers promoting books at their separate booths, companies will join together to introduce diverse book store trends.

In the special “Era of Book Stores” section, 20 small concept book stores thriving in local neighborhoods will be highlighted. In the “Discovery of Books” section, 50 small- and medium-sized publishers will display books which will best represent them.

Experts in the fields of genre books, science books and books on writing essays will meet pre-selected visitors to provide tips to choose books according to their tastes, while visitors who apply with their own stories can copy poems that are recommended accordingly by poets. Special lectures and meetings with local and international authors will follow. Among the participating authors are Korean novelists Hwang Sok-yong, Kim Hoon and Lee Jung-myung; Italian cartoonist and author Gianni Pacinotti; Canadian children's writer Kathy Stinson; Taiwanese writer Syman Rapongan; and Turkish children’s book writer Melike Gunyuz.

Tickets are priced at 5,000 won and can be exchanged for a voucher to buy books at the fair.