The 77th edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair took place from October 15th to October 19th 2024 and the Pontas Agency attended it for the 34th time in a row. We were delighted to catch up with old and new colleagues about the state of the industry and have fantastic conversations about what we love the most, books! Anna Soler-Pont and Carla Briner had back to back meetings with many editors, producers, and literary and film scouts, at their two tables in the very busy sold-out LitAg (the Literary Agents & Scouts Center).
According to the organizers, the LitAg hosted 321 agencies from 32 countries and trade visitors from 125 countries accounted for an increase of more than three-percent beyond the previous year’s turnout, according to Publishing Perspectives. The 77th Frankfurter Buchmesse was an absolute success!
Among countless great conversations, it was great to share enthusiasm about many of our clients’ books with their lovely editors, for example, with Madeline Jones (above left, pictured with Carla Briner) from Algonquin/Little, Brown in the US, who is currently working on American-Taiwanese author Theresa Hottel’s debut novel, Dust, one of our hot titles of the season, which will be published in early 2027. Dust will also be published in the UK by Clare Smith at Abacus/Little, Brown and Russian rights were pre-empted by Azbooka/Atticus. All other translation and audiovisual rights are currently available. We also caught up with Nelleke Geel (above right), from Dutch publishing house Meridiaan Uitgevers. Pontas is currently representing the translaiton and audiovisual rights on Meridiaan’s behalf for Afghan-Dutch author Forugh Karimi’s In My Eyes I Carry Clouds (In mijn ogen draag ik wolken). All translation and audiovisual rights are currently available. International editors can apply for translation grants from the Dutch Foundation for Literature. The grants can reimburse up to 70% of the translation costs and the novel is currently on their list of selected fiction for this season.
Despite packed schedules, Frankfurt is always the place for improvised meetings. We were delighted to see Ranya Bakr (above left, pictured with Carla Briner and Anna Soler-Pont) from Al Arabi Publishing in Egypt as she dropped off hot-off-the-press copies of the new Arabic translation of Stars In His Eyes (La força d’un destí) by Catalan author Martí Gironell. After winning the 2018 Ramon Llull Novel Award, the novel has also been translated into Spanish, English, Dutch, and Bulgarian. Apart from improvised meetings, we also love closing unexpected deals directly at our tables! Editorial director at Le soir venu/Éditions Jouvence Charlène Guinoiseau (above right) acquired French translation rights to It was Spring in Winter (Era primavera a l'hivern) by Catalan author Eulàlia Comas during a meeting at the fair, after falling in love with the novel. Le soir venu is also publishing another Pontas client in January 2026: The Prophecy Of The Birds (Le Présage des oiseaux), the brand-new novel by French author and translator Myriam Chirousse. All other translation rights and film/TV rights are currently available for both titles.
Speaking of French translation rights, Anne Assous (above left) from the team at Folio/Gallimard is gearing up for the publication of Dolores Redondo’s international bestseller Awaiting the Flood (Esperando al diluvio) in pocket format in the Folio imprint (complete with a fresh look and redesign of all the author’s covers!) in early 2026. Simultaneously, Gallimard will be publishing Redondo’s latest, Those Who Don’t Sleep NASH (Las que no duermen NASH) in their usual trade edition. We were also delighted to see Joséphine Wattier-Picard (above right), from the Éditions de la Martinière team, who will be publishing the French translation of Hot Water by Indian author Bhavika Govil, which was originally published by HarperCollins India in April 2025. Hot Water has been shortlisted for 2025 Godrej Literature Live! Literary Awards for Best First Book of Fiction and all other translation and audiovisual rights are available.
Frankfurt, see you next year!