So German!

Simon & Schuster Canada and the German Embassy Ottawa, in collaboration with the Goethe-Institut Montreal and the Canadian Embassy Berlin, have brought together 10 Canadian authors and 10 German authors to reflect upon their experiences and present their observations about the unforgettable year of 2020. The mix of French- and English-language essays in this e-book creates a contemporary literary dialogue between Canada and Germany on and off the pages, and showcases a diverse range of writers who contextualize our collective cultural, social, personal, and political experiences during a truly seismic year.

As part of this year’s Frankfurt Book Fair, the E-Book 20 on 2020 was part of Canada’s Guest of Honour presence. The E-Book was presented to the public as part of a Roundtable discussion with HE Whit Fraser, husband of Canadian Governor General Mary Simon, as moderator. The panel discussion featured two Canadian authors, Kim Thúy and Blaise Ndala, and the German author, Simone Buchholz who contributed to the project. Check-out the full roundtable on Youtube here.

To access your free copy of the E-Book 20 on 2020: 10 Canadian and 10 German Authors on a Year Like No Other, visit the following link. 

About The Frankfurt Book Fair

The Governor General Mary Simon also delivered remarks at the opening ceremony of the 73rd edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair. The opening ceremony featured Canadian authors Vivek Shraya, Margaret Atwood and Joséphine Bacon (both of whom will be joined the ceremony virtually). There was also a performance from Inuk opera singer Deantha Edmunds.

The theme of Canada’s Guest of Honour year was “Singular Plurality—Singulier Pluriel,” an expression meant to capture Canada’s culture of diversity, where each person is unique but connected as a whole both by their differences and by their shared values.