Translations of international fiction titles, history books and lifestyle titles were among the best-selling books at this year’s edition of Gaudeamus book fair, which closed in Bucharest on November 26.

The Humanitas publishing group listed among its best-sold titles at this edition of the Gaudeamus book fair a book about the 1918 union by Romanian historian Lucian Boia - În Jurul Marii Uniri de la 1918. Națiuni, frontiere, minorități/ On the Great Union of 1918. Nations, frontiers, minorities, and the collective volume Cum să fii fericit în România/ How to Be Happy in Romania. Romanian physician Simona Tivadar’s book Medicină, nutriție și bună dispoziție/ Medicine, Nutrition and Good Humor and The Atlas of Beauty by Romanian Mihaela Noroc also ranked among the most demanded titles.

Humanitas Fiction, part of the group, counted among its best sold titles at this edition of the fair the Romanian translations of Jessie Burton’s The Muse, Jeanette Winterson’s Christmas Days, Eric Emmanuel Schmitt’s Adolf H. Two Lives, Carmen Domingo’s Gala-Dali, and Pulizer prize winner Colson Whitehead’s The Underground Railroad.

For Curtea Veche Publishing, the list of best sellers at the fair includes Jamila Cuisine by Janina Staicu Avram, The Christmas Wish by Lori Evert, the album Storytelling Objects by Ștefan Câlția, Five Ingredients by Jamie Oliver, and Omon Ra by Viktor Pelevin.

The Romanian-language translations of Sapiens. A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari, The Three Daughters of Eve by Elif Shafak, and The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro, the 2017 winner of the Nobel prize for literature, topped the fair’s best sellers for Polirom publishing house.

The Testament of Abraham, the second novel of best-selling Romanian author Igor Bergler was one of the best-selling titles for Litera publishing house, alongside The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, The Ship of Brides by Jojo Moyes, Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie, and Stasiland. True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder.

For Trei Publishing House, the best sellers at the fair included the Romanian-language translations of Turtles All the Way Down by John Green, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz, Happiness Slips Through My Fingers by Agnes Martin Lugand, and The Lost Daughter by Elena Ferrante.

Over 125,000 people visited the fair, which hosted more than 800 events, the organizers said. The number of visitors this year is similar to that of previous editions. At the same time, 1,500 books were collected in a book donations campaign.

This year’s edition of the fair was marked by controversy as Romanian media mogul Dan Voiculescu, who was released conditionally from prison this July, launched the second volume of his book The Political Fight at the fair. Voiculescu is the owner of the Antena 1 and Antena 3 TV stations. He was convicted in 2013 to ten years in prison for corrupting public officials and benefitting from the illegal privatization of the Agricultural Research Institute. The Gaudeamus launch was the first public event for the media owner since being released from prison.

Dan Voiculescu's book was published by Rao publishing house. Former Romanian Prime Minister Adrian Nastase, who also served two prison terms for continued bribery and illegal fundraising in the 2004 electoral campaign, attended the launch of Voiculescu’s book, alongside Romanian actors Dan Puric and Mircea Diaconu, journalists Bogdan Chirieac, Sorin Roşca Stănescu, also a former convict, and Victor Ciutacu, and politician Mugur Ciuvică.

Protesting the launch of Voiculescu’s book at the fair, Lidia Bodea, the director of the Humanitas publishing house, one of the largest in Romania, resigned from her position of member of the council of directors of the Romanian Publishers’ Association (AER).

Romania’s “prison literature” gets more international exposure

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