Jack London Honored in Geneva

The 22nd annual salon du livre gets underway in Geneva on Wednesday. This year 120,000 visitors are expected during the five day event. Highlights will include celebrations of Egypt, the canton of St. Gallen, Italy’s Aoste Valley and 19th century American author Jack London.

According to 24 Heures: the 2008 fair “has set aside 100 square meters to exhibit documents and photographs of London (1876-1916), reputed to be the most read author in the world, widely translated in multiple languages, including French. Famous for such books as the Call of the Wild, the California native was a self-taught writer who absorbed knowledge equally from the Oakland Public Library and the rough-and-tumble world of miner’s camps in the Klondike and coastal fish boats in the Pacific Ocean.”

24 Heures reports that the Salon international du livre is a culturally important stop on the European tradeshow circuit:

The 22nd Salon international du livre et de la presse bills itself as the biggest cultural gathering of its kind in Switzerland. Targeted primarily at a French- and German-language audience, it features displays by publishers and book stores, as well as magazines and newspapers, such as the Tribune de Genève.