A new edition of the Frankfurt Book Fair took place from October 15th to October 20th 2024 and the Pontas Agency attended it for the 33rd time in a row. Once again, war and injustice were mentioned in every meeting, as everyone seemed very affected by what was happening in Palestine and Israel, besides the terrible ongoing wars in Ukraine, Congo, Ethiopia and other places around the world often forgotten by Western media. This year, Anna Soler-Pont and Carla Briner had back to back meetings with as many editors, publishers, producers, and literary and film scouts as possible, at their two tables in the very busy sold-out LitAg.
Among countless great conversations, it was great to share enthusiasm about many of our clients’ books, for example, Double Room by Anne Sénès. Pictured below (left), Carla Briner with Marie-Pierre Gracedieu, the French publisher at Le bruit du monde, who published Double Room in the original French in 2023 (original title: Chambre double). On Carla Briner’s right, Karen Sullivan, who will be publishing the English translation of Double Room as a lead title in June 2025 at Orenda Books in the UK. All other rights are currently available. Speaking of forthcoming translations, Anna Soler-Pont shared a meeting with Johann Gutjahr and Andrea Groll (below right) from German publisher Atrium Verlag, who will be publishing the German translation of Jill Johnson’s Devil’s Breath in 2025. Rights have also been sold into French (Michel Lafon), Russian (AST), Czech (Grada/Metafora), and Polish (Znak Koncept), and audiovisual rights were optioned by Adil Ray at Cornered Tiger in the UK.
We were lucky enough to have Pontas client Ennatu Domingo (below left) over for a visit. She was in Frankfurt to promote the German edition of her debut memoir, Burnt Eucalyptus Wood (German title: Der Geruch von verbranntem Eukalyptus], published in September 2024 by Orlanda Verlag. Burnt Eucalyptus Wood was published in its original Catalan by Navona, who also published the Spanish translation, and in English by The Indigo Press in the UK. Rights have also been sold into Korean (Adonis), and all other translation and audiovisual rights are available. Ennatu Domingo’s publisher in English, The Indigo Press’ Susie Nicklin (below right) also passed by our tables. Susie Nicklin is also the publisher of Mauritian author Priya Hein’s debut novel Riambel (2023) for which translation rights have been sold into German (Gutkind) and Catalan (Sembra). Priya Hein’s next novel, Tamarin, is forthcoming with The Indigo Press in 2025. We’ll share more information very soon.
As usual, there was also a lot of excitement for new titles. Pictured below (left), Eka Kurniawan’s French publisher, Sabine Wespieser, who just acquired rights to a new novella by the author, The Dog Meows, The Cat Barks, to be published in 2025 by her eponymous imprint. The original Indonesian edition of the novella was published in July 2024 by Gramedia and translation rights have also been sold into German and English, to be announced soon. We were also lucky enough to meet David García Escamilla, the editor of Mexican author and human rights activist Lydia Cacho’s new MG novel, The Day They Invaded My Planeta (El día que invadieron mi planeta), published by Alfaguara México/PRH in July 2024. All translation and audiovisual rights to this touching story about the Russian invasion of Ukraine are currently available.
We also met with many film scouts and producers, to discuss new potential audiovisual adaptations and projects currently under development! In the photos below, our colleagues Michelle Kroes from Creative Artist Agency (CAA) (left) and Anna DeRoy and Sanjana Seelam, both agents at William Morris Endeavor (WME) (right).
Frankfurt, see you next year, we wouldn’t miss it!