Aldus (named after Aldo Manuzio) is a network of European book fairs. The project will establish a first kernel and start working to broaden it at pan European level.
Starting points are the presence in Europe of the 2 leading B2B book-fairs in the world (both Aldus partners), and the rich variety of national book fairs, open to the public (5 are project partners). The former are already the place for professionals to meet at global level, the latter have a big potential to complement this by offering visibility to national book communities at European level. The network between the two will foster targeted mobility between professionals, through visiting trips and joint events.
The dialogue between publishers is the prerequisite for translations, i.e. for mobility of literary works, which is the primary objective of the project, supported by dedicated networking and training activities.
Book fairs are also an occasion for capacity building, in particular in the areas of internationalisation, digital shift, and audience development. Aldus aims at experimenting with new event formats in these areas, more interactive and engaging. Supporting publishers to experiment new ways of using the fairs to engage with their audience is another project objective.
The network starts with two large B2B book fairs and some in small countries or dedicated to small publishers. This is the ideal test bed. Opportunities will be set up to meet with other fair organisers and invite them to join, which is also the basis to ensure continuity to the life of Aldus after the end of the project phase.
Aldus is a project co-funded by the European Union under the Creative Europe programme; it will run from June 2016 to September 2019.
