Göteborg Book Fair invites Gui Minhai

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Göteborg Book Fair invites Gui Minhai

In an official invitation, which is published in today’s Swedish Daily, Göteborg Book Fair has invited the Swedish-Chinese author and publisher Gui Minhai, who is in prison in China, to this year’s Fair. Swedish PEN, The Swedish Publishers’ Association and the International Publishers Association have joined Göteborg Book Fair in extending the invitation.

On Friday 28th September, at 4:20pm, a seminar will be held at the stage in the Global Square (previously the International Square), with the title Welcome Gui Minhai – about the situation in China.
Angela Gui, student and daughter of Gui Minhai, Jesper Bengtsson, chair of Swedish PEN, Svante Weyler, publisher, Jojje Olsson, journalist, author and China watcher, Kristenn Einarsson, chair of the The Freedom to Publish Committee of the International Publishers Association and Elisabeth Åsbrink, journalist and author, will participate in a conversation introduced by Frida Edman, Göteborg Book Fair.

The invitation requests that Gui Minhai participate in the seminar as well. A chair at the seminar is reserved for him, as a symbol of the freedom which has been taken from him. The chair will remain empty until he is able to attend in person.

Frida Edman, Director, Göteborg Book Fair:
- This is a personal invitation, which we have chosen to make public in order to shine a spotlight on an extremely serious issue: a Swedish publisher is in prison because of his publications, and on unclear grounds – what can and should we do about this? The Book Fair has a long tradition of calling attention to persecuted authors, publishers and journalists. Inviting Gui Minhai feels highly relevant.

The invitation will be sent to the Swedish Embassy in China, to the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs and to the Chinese Embassy in Stockholm. It is available to read here.

For more information, please contact
Joanna Wahlsten, press contact
jw@goteborg-bookfair.com
+46 31 708 84 13

The Göteborg Book Fair 2018 will be held September 27-30 at the Swedish Exhibition & Congress Centre.

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Göteborg Book Fair, SE-412 94 Göteborg, Sweden
www.goteborg-bookfair.com | info@goteborg-bookfair.com | +46 31 708 84 00