About us


World literature includes

  • many languages
  • many authors
  • many publishers
  • many readers

In Germany it has one address: Litprom e.V.


What can we do for foreign literary institutions in the Global South?

Use Litprom as your entry to the German book market.

You are currently looking for an entry into the German speaking book market? You would like to build-up your own business network and find your books being translated into German and being sold in German speaking countries?

We provide you with an extended network ranging from German publishers specialized on international literature to renowned translators and important business multipliers for your market entry. We have been working in the field of promoting international literature to the German market for almost forty years and bring in the necessary network and work experience. Litprom is headed by the president of Frankfurt Book Fair, Juergen Boos, underlining the strong connection to and within the German book market.

Contact: Joscha Hekele
Phone: +49-(0)69 – 2102 250
e-mail: hekele@buchmesse.de


Dialogue through Literature

Although quite a number of important books by authors from Africa, Asia, the Arab World and particularly Latin America have been translated into German, literature from Africa, Asia and Latin America is not yet adequately represented on the German book market. Since we are convinced that literature is one of the most important means of cross-cultural learning and that books do provide a unique opportunity to learn about cultures, it is imperative that efforts will be intensified to have books by authors from the so-called Global South translated into German.

Who we are

Litprom was founded in Frankfurt in 1980 on the occasion of the Frankfurt Book Fair which then focused on creative writing from Africa. It is an association of professionals in the fields of publishing, journalism, literary studies and criticism and serves as a literary agency. Litprom is funded by financial means of the Protestant Church, the German government, Frankfurt Book Fair and other aid and development agencies, so it does not charge any commission for its services.

Its Board of Directors consists of:

  • Juergen Boos, Direktor der Frankfurter Buchmesse (President)
  • Zoë Beck, Verlegerin (Vice-President)
  • Michael Kegler, Übersetzer (Treasurer)
  • Franziska Fandrich, Referentin im Dezernat für Kultur und Wissenschaft der Stadt Frankfurt am Main
  • Björn Lauer
  • Barbara Weidle, publisher

Our goals

Litprom, registered as a non-profit association in Frankfurt, has set itself these objectives:

  • to monitor literary trends and developments and select the best examples of creative writing from Africa, Asia, the Arab world and Latin America translated into German, and to promote them in Germany, Switzerland and Austria;
  • to serve as an information center about literature from Africa, Asia and Latin America;
  • to help establish and encourage a forum of debate about literature from the so-called Global South. Litprom has been founded because we felt a strong need to actively promote literature from African, Asian, Arab and Latin American countries in the German speaking region. It is through these literatures that Eurocentric views, ignorance about conditions in Africa, Asia and Latin America, prejudices and stereotyped views can be overcome. It is through translations into German that German speaking readers can learn how authors from Africa, Asia and Latin America view their world and their cultures and thus learn that there are different, but equally relevant perspectives on the one world in which we live.


How we operate

»LiBeraturpreis« — Prize for female authors
In the struggle for recognition on the international book market, female writers from Africa, Asia, the Arab world and Latin America are highly underrepresented. Litprom addresses this problem by awarding the LiBeraturpreis to a woman writer every year. The candidates are selected among the authors of last years »Weltempfänger« list, the voting is public.

»Quellen«
Our digital database Quellen (Sources) lists all relevant fiction titles translated into German since decades.

»Weltempfänger-Liste«
Four times a year, the members of the “Weltempfänger” jury compile a list of the seven finest book releases of the season. By publishing this list, Litprom raises the awareness for literature from the Global South. The “Weltempfänger” list is always highly appreciated by readers, media and experts alike.

Translation Programme
Since 1984 Litprom has been administering a special programme of grants for translations of relevant books by African, Asian, Arab and Latin American authors into German; this programme is funded by the German Foreign Office and allows for subsidies of about 20 translations per year. Up to now 721 books (novels, short stories and poetry) have been supported.
Since its creation, Litprom has been instrumental in the publication of translations of several hundred books by authors from the Global South, books which without us may not have reached German readers. Among them were also books by authors who later won internationally acclaimed awards.

The Frankfurt Book Fair
Litprom also has a stand at the annual Frankfurt Book Fair, closely cooperating with those publishers from relevant countries who come to the Fair, some of them for the first time. It functions as a meeting-point for authors and publishers from many countries around the world. Apart from the own stand Litprom organizes the project Weltempfang, which is a center for political, cultural and literary topics. During the fair there are held readings and panel discussions with international authors, intellectuals and translators.

Events
Litprom organises reading events about 3-5 times a year with non-european writers and in cooperation with their German publishers in order to promote these literatures and bring international writers to the German public.


How to contact us

Litprom e.V.
Haus des Buches
Braubachstr. 16
60311 Frankfurt
Tel. +49 69 2102 143 | 250 | 246
Fax +49 69 2102 46143
litprom@buchmesse.de