Book Vienna 2025: Largest Exhibition Ever Focuses on Expansion, Internationality, and Debate

After a record attendance of 65,000 visitors last year, the organizers, the Austrian Booksellers Association, are responding to the growing interest. With 5,000 additional square meters in Hall C and three new stages, the range of offerings will be massively expanded.

Hall D will feature the new Die Presse Science Stage and the accompanying Science Workshop Lounge, which will interactively address current topics in science, business, and technology. Hall C will become the center for children's and youth literature as well as the trend genres Young & New Adult, for which a separate Thalia New Adult Stage will be created.

Together with managing director Patrick Zöhrer, cultural journalist and literary critic Julia Kospach will be responsible for curating the fiction and non-fiction sections from February 2025. Kospach succeeds Günter Kaindlstorfer and intends to focus in particular on non-fiction, nature writing, and women's literature.

Internationality and guest country strategy

In an interview with DerStandard, Patrick Zöhrer emphasizes that the fair is pursuing a guest country strategy that makes sense for the German-speaking world. Zöhrer attributes the success to high demand from exhibitors and the public. Last year's record attendance of 65,000 people and the resulting temporary admission freeze on the Saturday of the fair led to the strategic decision to expand the fair to two halls. This growth is not only driven by established Austrian publishers, but also to a large extent by new publishers and the expanded presence of German publishing groups such as Bonnier and Holtzbrinck.

According to Zöhrer, the special appeal of Buch Wien lies in its compactness, which distinguishes it from large fairs such as Frankfurt. Although it is primarily a consumer fair, trade visitors from German-speaking countries appreciate the atmosphere of spontaneous encounters, which are often not possible in the hustle and bustle of Frankfurt.

In terms of program strategy, Zöhrer relies on the curatorial power of publishers to ensure the seriousness of the program. Trends such as the increased emergence of self-publishers are deliberately rejected on the main stages, while popular genres such as New Adult are integrated as an important entry point for young readers into the book market. The vision is to make the fair attractive to people who currently spend their free time playing games or listening to podcasts by introducing new formats, such as the expanded Science Lounge and targeted workshops. “The live experience is incredibly appealing,” says Zöhrer.

An important goal for the future is to expand the fair's international orientation. With the appointment of Oliver Zille, the long-time director of the Leipzig Book Fair, as commissioner for international affairs, the long-term guest country strategy is to be developed. Zille is considered a “profound connoisseur of the European literary scene and a bridge builder.” The focus is on European and non-European partners who bring lasting benefits to the German-language book market. Geographically, the fair has already greatly expanded its reach, as evidenced by an increase in visitors from the Austrian provinces (also through cooperation with regional bookstores) and from southern Germany. The use of streaming to extend the fair beyond the five days is considered desirable, but it is currently still a question of budget.

Debates and high-profile guests

Under the motto “Book knowledge instead of know-it-all knowledge,” Buch Wien focuses on in-depth panel discussions on religion & philosophy, artificial intelligence, and feminism. Among others, AI experts Sepp Hochreiter and Sarah Spiekermann will be participating in the discussions, as well as feminist voices such as Mari Lang, Mareike Fallwickl, and Natascha Strobl.

National figures include Michael Köhlmeier, Marlene Streeruwitz, and Clemens J. Setz. Internationally, best-selling authors Caroline Wahl and Ulrike Draesner, as well as French queer icon Constance Debré, are expected to attend. A special highlight is the participation of Austrian Nobel Prize winner in physics Anton Zeilinger, who will appear together with Marissa Giustina (Google Quantum AI Lab) in the Year of Quantum Physics. Numerous exiled writers such as Usama Al-Shahmani and Sergej Lebedew will also be guests. The Long Night of Books will be opened by journalist and publicist Shila Behjat with the opening speech “The Female Face of Change.”

With the strategic expansion of the exhibition space, diversification of content, and strengthening of international activities, Buch Wien 25 is positioning itself not only as “Austria's biggest book festival” (Benedikt Föger, President of the Austrian Booksellers Association), but also as a central European platform for literary, cultural, and social dialogue.

Buch Wien