The five-day programme, featuring more than 100 events and taking place in a unique design pavilion, at the Czech national stand and at dozens of venues not only in Frankfurt, was attended by more than 200 authors, translators, illustrators and other Czech professionals from the book industry. Thanks to the guest programme, the number of Czech titles translated into German rose to 193 by the start of the fair in the years 2024–2026. However, the promotion of Czech literature in German-speaking countries does not end with the Frankfurt Book Fair; it will continue later this year at the autumn festivals in Zofingen, Switzerland, and in Dresden, at the Buch Wien, and in spring 2027 at the Leipzig Book Fair.
On the final day of the fair, 11 October, the Czech Republic handed over the role of Guest of Honour to Chile, the Guest of Honour at the 2027 Frankfurt Book Fair. Among those attending the ceremony were the Czech illustrator Lucie Lomová and the Chilean artist Alberto Montt. In a conversation with presenter Shila Behjatová, both spoke about their work and combined the interview with live drawings. The Chilean duo Dënver.en provided the musical accompaniment.
“To put it simply – it was brilliant! We received very positive feedback on our guest of honour programme, both from experts from abroad and from the general public. The German media gave Czech literature an incredibly enthusiastic reception. The Guest of Honour pavilion was constantly full of people following the discussions, readings and book launches, and looking at the translations of Czech literary works on display. The pavilion’s design and its individual programme elements were also met with an enthusiastic response. We met visitors’ expectations and, I suspect, even exceeded them slightly. And that’s important, because this enthusiasm will enable us to carry on our work,” says Tomáš Kubíček, Director of the Moravian Regional Library and Director of Czechia 2026, describing his first impressions following the end of the Frankfurt Book Fair. “Now we need to capitalise on the potential that Czech literature has gained through its presentation in Frankfurt. We must showcase ourselves at further international events and remain in the spotlight. I am convinced that our appearance as Guest of Honour in Frankfurt will develop into a long-term international success for our authors and for Czech publishers. My greatest thanks, however, go now to our entire team, including numerous volunteers, for the excellent preparation and execution. These three years of work reached a magnificent climax during this week in Frankfurt.”
“The Guest of Honour programme, which has just come to an end, is the culmination of several years of collaboration between numerous individuals and institutions in the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, without whose contribution we could not have realised such an extensive programme, and to whom we also extend our heartfelt thanks. Of course, the programme would not have been possible without the wonderful authors, literary translators, book industry professionals and interpreters, to whom we also extend our heartfelt thanks. Furthermore, we are delighted by the public’s keen interest in the events we organised. At the Czech national stand, which, in addition to hosting debates and showcasing 40 Czech publishers, also served as a venue for business meetings, over 200 formal meetings and countless informal encounters took place,” adds Martin Krafl, Director of the Czech Literature Centre and Programme Director of Czechia 2026.
In addition to the programme itself, the response generated by the Guest of Honour status in the German-language media and on social media is also significant. In total, during the week of the fair – that is, in the seven days up to Sunday 11 October 2026 – around 2,500 articles, reports, interviews and mentions relating to the guest of honour programme appeared in German-language media – on television, on the radio and in national, regional and online media. For example, the daily newspaper Die Welt wrote that “the Guest of Honour at the 78th Frankfurt Book Fair is a celebration of the imagination”. In a one-hour programme on Deutschlandfunk Kultur, it was stated: “The Czech Republic was already a Guest of Honour at a book fair in 2019 – at that time, it was the Leipzig Book Fair. The fact that, just seven years later, it is appearing on an even bigger stage – the Frankfurt Book Fair – testifies to the significance of contemporary Czech literature – and to the Czech Republic’s determination to share it with the world.” The Frankfurter Rundschau emphasises that “the initial reactions to the Czech Republic’s pavilion as guest of honour … were full of pleasant surprise and amusement.” Wiesbadener-kurier.de describes a visit to the Czech pavilion as a “journey into the realm of fantasy”, whilst buchmarkt.de describes the Czech pavilion as “wonderfully simple, playful and enchanting”. Positive television reports appeared on programmes including ‘mdr aktuell’, ‘Tagesschau’, ‘ZDF Heute’, ‘hallo deutschland’, ‘Arte’, ‘hr’ and ‘RTL Hessen’. The trade magazine ‘The Bookseller’ published a special supplement on Czech literature.