Romania at the Paris Book Festival
Romania was present in Paris at the most important international event dedicated to books.
Mihai Pelin, 20.04.2026, 13:50
Romania participated in the most important international book event in the capital of France, held under the spectacular dome of the Grand Palais, one of the emblematic cultural buildings of Paris. “Romania’s presence at the Festival du Livre de Paris confirms the appreciation that Romanian writers enjoy today on the French market, reflected in the growing number of translations and in the increased interest of French-speaking publishing houses for this year’s ongoing session of the Romanian Cultural Institute’s translation programs,” said Liviu Sebastian Jicman, the president of the Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR).
The motto of the Romanian presence at the prestigious festival was ‘Romania, beyond borders/ A territory yet to be discovered’, inviting readers to discover or rediscover authors and writings from contemporary literature. Thousands of book titles, 450 publishing houses, over 1,200 authors on the covers of books arriving from 14 countries – all of this came together under the sign of cultural diversity. This year’s theme of the Book Festival was the journey: literary, inner, geographical, going further to address topics such as migration, exile and sensory experiences. The guest of honor of the edition was the comic strip, a type of book much loved by the French and beyond, which has come to cover the most diverse literary genres and social themes.
At the Romanian stand, visitors could purchase the latest French-language editions of volumes by Romanian writers, from works of fiction and poetry to art and photography albums. They chose from a selection of 60 titles by Romanian authors translated into French, published by publishers in France and Switzerland, as well as many other titles in Romanian, proposed by publishers in Romania.
Many authors were present at the Romanian stand for dedications, and some of them were also invited to the debates on the festival’s main stages, as well as to the events scheduled at the Romanian Cultural Institute in Paris, at the Romanian and Moldovan Embassies in France. Among them were Mircea Cărtărescu, Gabriela Adameșteanu, Matei Vişniec, Daniela Raţiu, Bogdan Alexandru Stănescu and Doina Lemny. This year’s edition of the festival prepared a big surprise for book lovers: the Friday Culinary Evening, where literature and the culinary arts of arranging and serving the table met with the intention of offering a unique experience, combining flavors and stories from around the world.
The big novelty of this event was the culinary night on Friday evening – an opportunity for a Romanian, Ecaterina Paraschiv, owner of the Ibrik restaurant in Paris, to invite visitors to taste the famous apple and cinnamon strudel. She also presented the two volumes she has published and in which she presents recipes from the Balkans, as well as 100 recipes from Bucharest to Istanbul. Initiated in 1981, the Paris Book Festival is the most important international event of its kind in France and one of the largest in the world. (LS)
