In a few weeks, Chilean editors, writers, and authorities will pack their bags and travel to Germany. The destination? The prestigious Frankfurt Book Fair 2026. Their presence marks a milestone in Chile’s journey as Guest of Honor at the 2027 edition, a path that began in 2023 with the much-discussed rejection of the invitation and its subsequent reversal. However, now the national footsteps on German soil appear firmer.
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This year’s edition will take place from October 7 to 11, with Czech Republic as the Guest of Honor country. “This year’s Frankfurt Fair marks the official kickoff of our participation as Guest of Honor,” explains Nicolás Leyton, executive director of Chile at the Frankfurt Book Fair, to Culto.
The delegation’s first official activity will be a press conference scheduled for the morning of October 8. “This will be an important moment to officially start communicating Chile’s participation as Guest of Honor, present the concept that will guide its presence, and preview some of the general ideas of what the country hopes to showcase in 2027,” adds Leyton.
Later, on the afternoon of October 11, the handover ceremony will take place. “It will be at this edition that Czechia formally hands over the baton, starting this year of invitation and a particularly significant stage for Chile’s presence in Germany and in the international book circuit,” states the executive director.
Regarding this milestone, Marifé Boix García, vice president for Southern Europe and Latin America of the Frankfurt Book Fair, highlights that “from there, the fair already begins Chile’s year with various activities culminating in the October 2027 fair.”
One of the main novelties of this edition is the launch of the LatAm Stage, a platform dedicated to reflecting on Latin American literature. Its goal is “to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first thematic focus of the Fair, which was Latin America in 1976,” Boix García indicates.
“This stage will address relevant topics for and from the region and at the same time will be a meeting point for professionals, authors, artists, and creators to share data, ideas, initiatives, and collective projects in order to build bridges with the international market, as well as with readers in the local market,” the executive elaborates.
Through roundtables, Chilean and international authors will share experiences on various themes. Likewise, editors and publishing professionals will begin business conversations for the sale or purchase of rights and distribution options.
For example, in the table Translating Poetry: What Is Lost and What Is Created, translators Camila Fadda, Mónica Drouilly, and Alejandra del Río will participate. Meanwhile, in the panel Digital Distribution: Reaching Readers Worldwide Through Various Formats, Javier Sepúlveda from eBooks Patagonia will represent Chile; while Vivian Lavín will take part in the table Rights Trading in the Latin American Market.
Several national authors are part of this advanced delegation. To coordinate logistical aspects, this Monday, September 21, a meeting will be held led by the Ministry of Cultures, Arts and Heritage, the Division of Cultures, Arts and Heritage (DIRAC) of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile, and ProChile.
Among the travelers is Alberto Fuguet, whose book Missing is included in the list of 50 Chilean works recommended for translation into German. “I have never been to Frankfurt. Our job is to pave the way, carry shovels and picks, and help pave, show ourselves, read, talk, and connect. I’m curious,” he tells this outlet.
The author will participate in the inauguration of the Chilean stand, the reception of Spanish and Ibero-American publishers, an event that includes a pairing of literature and wines, and other talks. He will also appear on the LatAm Stage.
About his expectations, he describes: “Show up, read, talk, talk about Chilean literature, Chile in general, learn. An honor that Missing was chosen, hopefully things will happen. Chile being the Guest Country is a big deal, it is because it has a trajectory of very famous and appreciated authors. The last days mean showing the world that Chile is capable of continuing to deliver new voices to be translated worldwide.”
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Meanwhile, María José Viera-Gallo will join the delegation from Spain, where she will be launching her novel You Are Strange Too (Anagrama). “Among the authors, we all know each other more or less, and all is well. Some of us have already coordinated where to stay in downtown Frankfurt,” she comments.
“I go with the best spirits to promote my upcoming novel which will be published simultaneously in Spain and Italy. The idea is that it enchants editors of other languages for possible translations (it already has one committed to Portuguese),” she adds. Unlike Fuguet, Viera-Gallo will attend represented by her agents from Puentes Agency.
“I don’t know the fair, but my last book Chemistry and Nicotine found a Spanish publisher there a few years ago. It’s the equivalent of attending a major film festival to find new readers,” she reflects.
The writer and journalist Juan Cristóbal Peña, who is also on the recommended list with The Secret Literary Life of Augusto Pinochet, will join the activities in the German city.
“I think it’s important that the universe of Chilean literature also includes narrative production in the field of journalism, non-fiction and referential genres in general, which have significant readership impact in the publishing world and contribute, just like fiction, to narrate the memory and identity of a country,” he analyzes.
His book Twisted Letters. A Profile of Mariana Callejas (Ediciones UDP, 2024) was recently published in Spain by Debate publishing and also in Brazil by the Manjuba label. “This, I think, reflects the international interest in texts that propose rereadings of our recent political history, no longer from the urgency of denunciation, but from a more reflective and uncomfortable place. A rereading that talks about the crimes of the dictatorship but also about the family and domestic life of those who committed those crimes,” he reflects.
Peña will join the panel The Burden of Magical Realism – Is Fiction Needed to Explain Reality? and the mass reading of Chilean authors titled A Variety of Voices from Chile: Brief Readings from Different Authors.
According to information gathered by Culto, authors such as Alejandra Costamagna, María José Ferrada, Carmen García Palma, Carlos Soto Román, Claudio Aguilera
and Gabriela Lyon (who will address the illustrated book industry) and Daniela Catrileo (who will delve into indigenous literature) will also be present.
Likewise, various national creators will participate in parallel events coinciding with the fair on German soil. For example, writer Paulina Flores, author of Deception Island (2021) and Next Time I See You, I’ll Kill You (2025), will participate in the Barrio Berlin Festival. Meanwhile, at the House of Poetry in the German capital, María José Ferrada and Carlos Soto Román will present. Ferrada, together with Rodrigo Marín, will also present the book There Was Light or Something Like Light (Da war Licht oder etwas Ähnliches wie Licht) at the Bellevue Cultural Center in Munich alongside the publisher Hagebutte Verlag, while Soto Román will offer a poetry recital at Lettrétage.
In parallel with the activities in German territory, the Chilean delegation’s roadmap includes key milestones in the coming months. According to Nicolás Leyton, the Ministry of Cultures will soon open calls to structure the 2027 cultural program, which will cover disciplines such as music and performing arts. Additionally, during September, training sessions for the publishing sector on adapting works to audiovisual format will be held, an area that in November will include talks with German experts in partnership with the Goethe-Institut, CinemaChile, SANFIC, and the Audiovisual Promotion Fund.
Regarding the infrastructure and concept that will host the national presence in 2027, the Chile pavilion is in the final design stages together with ProChile and the curatorial team selected last year by the Secretariat of the Book and Reading. However, architectural and interactive details will remain confidential until June 2027, the date set by the fair’s own organization for the public unveiling.
