The Bookfest Chisinau International Book Fair will run from August 28 to September 1 at Mediacor, where visitors will be able to meet cultural figures from both sides of the Prut River during book launches and presentations. Leading publishers of Romania and Moldova will welcome book fans with their latest offers. For the third consecutive year, the event will take place under the high patronage of Romania’s President Klaus Iohannis and Moldova’s President Maia Sandu.

Bookfest will be inaugurated on Wednesday, August 28, at 12:00, and the series of book launch events will be opened by Junimea. The Iași-based publisher will hold a public meeting featuring the president of the Romanian Academy Ioan-Aurel Pop, who will launch the book “Medieval Moldova as seen from Transylvania”. At 13:30, the publishing house Știința will offer readers a foray into the contemporary poetic landscape with the debate titled “Europe and us: a cultural integration” and the launch of the anthology titled “Contemporary European Poetry (II)”. At 17:00, the publishing house of the Romanian Academy will have the academicians Irinel Popescu and Dumitru Murariu with their volumes “A surgeon’s memoirs” and “Incursion into the origin and evolution of current mammals”.

Thursday, August 29, will be dedicated to children and adults alike, with the thread of events going from philosophy and history to the fiction of Emilian Galaicu-Păun and the world of Guguță created by Spiridon Vangheli. Emilian Galaicu-Păun will meet the public, at 17:30, this time as a novelist, with a volume recently published by Cartier “Times New. Roman 12/18”. The publishing house of the Romanian Cultural Institute prepared a special moment dedicated to the late writer Spiridon Vangheli, also known as “Guguță's father”. At 18:00, visitors are invited to discover the relationship between text and image in children’s literature. The speakers are the plastic artist Lică Sainciuc, the critic and translator Luminița Corneanu and the illustrator Andrei Damian, with author Maria Pilchin as the moderator.

On Friday, August 30, the publisher Cuantic will help visitors make the leap to “Air Jordan” through the book “Air Majesty - Michael Jordan”, by the renowned sports journalist Emil Hossu Longin. Awarded by the Romanian Sports Press Association as the Sports Book of the Year, the volume offers a unique behind-the-scenes perspective on the life and career of the legendary basketball player. Eikon, in partnership with the Moldovan Union of Writers, will follow with an event titled “Paul Goma in Bessarabia and around the world”.

On Saturday, August 31, the Paralela 45 publishing house invites visitors to discover the Kiev of 1919, as depicted by the Russian-Ukrainian writer Andrei Kurkov in his historical novel “Samson and Hope”. This will be followed by the debate titled “Bessarabian writers and the foreign book market: what do we have to offer?”, with speakers from both sides of the Prut River. Alexandru Popescu will then present his new novel “Ultrasound”. The journalist and writer Cristian Tudor Popescu is waiting for the readers, at 18:00, with his latest book published by Polirom, titled “The Devil’s Laugh”.

On September 1, the publisher Paralela 45 invites visitors to the launch of the “Se poarta cartea” collection. At 13:00, Curtea Veche Publishing will offer a double book launch, followed by an autograph session. This will be followed by the launch of the English edition of the album “Monasteries and churches of Transylvania. 13th to 18th Centuries”.

The 2024 edition of the Bookfest Chisinau International Book Fair is funded by the Romanian Government’s Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova and takes place in partnership with the Ministry of Culture of Romania and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova. Admission is free to all events.