International Visibility

Leipzig Book Fair and the Opening of the “Armenia, the Land of Letters” Pavilion 2026

On March 19–22, 2026, the ARI Literature Foundation was present at the Leipzig Book Fair with a pavilion entitled “Armenia, the Land of Letters” and a vast program of events.

The Leipzig International Book Fair is considered one of the most important literary events in Europe, which this year brought together publishers, authors, and readers from more than 54 countries and this year registered a record of 313,000 visitors.

On March 20, the official opening of the ARI Literature Foundation pavilion took place. In her opening speech, the founding director of the foundation, Arevik Ashkharoyan, highlighted the importance of Armenia’s presence at such international platforms, emphasizing that they are a unique opportunity to advance cultural diplomacy, present Armenian literature, promote translations, and create new partnerships. She also thanked all long-term and new partners and supporting organizations for making the presence of the ARI Literature Foundation and the organization of events at the Leipzig Book Fair a reality.

Speeches at the opening were made by Skadi Jannicke, Deputy Mayor of Leipzig for Culture and the Arts, Susanne Kucharski-Huniat, President of the Rahn Dietrich Company (RDG) Educational and Cultural Foundation, Florian Binder, Scientific Associate Regional Programme for Political Dialogue South Caucasus at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, Jan-Tage Kühling, Director of the Goethe Institute in Armenia, as well as poet and prose writer Anush Kocharyan. More than 15 speakers from the Armenian program events were present at the opening, including authors, translators, journalists, scholars from Armenia, Germany and other European countries, as well as representatives of partner organizations and foreign publishers. The event was accompanied by hospitality, creating a warm and representative atmosphere.

This year’s participation of the ARI Literature Foundation was held under the theme Armenia, the Land of Letters, aiming to present the Armenian literary heritage and contemporary voices on the international stage. The pavilion featured German translations of books by Armenian authors, cultural, historical, as well as touristic books, maps and brochures.

Leipzig International Book Fair 2025

Since 2024, ARI Literature Foundation has been a partner in an artistic residency exchange program supported by Stadt Leipzig and Goethe Institute Armenia. As a result of an open call for the first residency in Leipzig, Armenian poet and writer Anush Kocharyan was selected and spent the month of March at the Hanns Esler House in Leipzig. ARI Foundation’s Director Arevik Ashkharoyan was invited to moderate a panel discussion with Ms Kocharyan during the Leipzig International Book Fair. This was the closing event of the residency program and the discussion was opened by a short speech by Katharina Goerig, Head of the Literature and Translation Grant Programme at the Goethe-Institut. Kristina Raßmann, from the International Cooperation Unit of Stadt Leipzig was on the panel and read an extract from Kocharyan’s novel in German. The event was attended by officials and representatives from the Stadt Leipzig, Goethe Institute Headquarters, Literarische Colloquium Berlin, publishers, writers, translators and the German audience.

The ultimate result of the visit to the Leipzig Book Fair was an invitation from the fair’s representatives to the ARI Literature Foundation to organize a stand and a program of events in 2026. Due to cooperation with several German organizations, including Stadt Leipzig, and our long-standing partners – Goethe Institute Armenia and Konrad Adenauer Foundation South Caucasus, this initiative was made possible and ARI Literature Foundation’s stand entitled “Armenia: The Land of Letters” was exhibited at the Leipzig Book Fair 2026. To make the visibility of the stand more impactful and constructive, ARI Literature Foundation offered a diverse and rich program of events, including panel discussions and public lectures about Armenian-German historical and cultural relations, translating culture and politics through fiction literature, reflection of post social era of the cultural decolonization, topics of memory, migration and belonging with participation of writers and intellectuals from Armenia, Germany and Eastern Europe.

Abu Dhabi International Book Fair 2025

In April, ARI Literature Foundation exhibited at Abu Dhabi International Book Fair within the Armenian collective stand. This was the first time Armenian publishers, agents and literary organizations were a part of this fast-growing International Book Fair. We might be revisiting this event in 2026 to strengthen the connections that were established in 2025, especially with the publishers and organizations from the Arab-speaking region.

Lisbon International Book Fair 2025

In June, Arevik Ashkharoyan and Program Coordinator Liana Shiroyan visited the Lisbon Book Fair for the first time as part of a fellowship program organized by the Creative Europe Desk Portugal. The program included an exchange of experience with literary and publishing institutions in Portugal. During the trip, a visit to ARI Foundation’s partner, Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, was also organized.

This program extended the network of partners not only with Portuguese professionals, but also with other delegates, such as Serbia, Poland, Slovenia, and others. New cooperations have been initiated due to the visit and networking with colleagues.

Edinburgh International Book Festival 2025

In August, Arevik Ashkharoyan was invited to be a part of Momentum Delegate Program organized by the British Council, Creative Scotland and Festivals Edinburgh during the Edinburgh International Book Festival. The program included visits to and professional exchange with the Scottish literary and publishing organizations, and events at the Book Festival. As a follow-up of the program, a funding opportunity was offered to Ms Ashkharoyan for establishing an Armenian-Scottish literary dialogue.

As a result, in 2026 ARI Foundation’s pilot addition of an Annual Parallels International Literature Festival in Armenia will be launched and will host writers, poets and festival directors from Scotland along with other international participants and audiences.

Frankfurt International Book Fair 2024

ARI Literature Foundation in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation South Caucasus and with the support of The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia conducted an event in the frames of Frankfurt Buchmesse. On October 18th, 2024, a panel discussion entitled “Looking for a place – Armenian literature in Europe” took place at the Frankfurt Studio stage in the frames of the fair.

The speakers of the panel were writers Anoush Kocharyan, Aram Pachyan, Sargis Hovsepyan, literary critic Tigran Amiryan, and the panel was moderated by Jürgen Jakob Becker, Deputy Managing Director, curator of literary program at Literarische Colloquium Berlin. The opening speech was delivered by Arevik Ashkharoyan, the founding director of ARI Literature Foundation followed by a welcoming speech by the director of Konrad Adenauer Foundation South Caucasus Stephan Malerius.

Among the topics discussed were the place of modern Armenian literature on the geopolitical map, the influence of the Soviet years on modern Armenian literature, the importance of using translation as a tool for integration, and how we see ourselves and how we are perceived from outside. The influence of historical memory, collective memory, as well as “memory of memory” in modern Armenian literature was also one of the central topics of discussion. When asked by Jürgen Becker, moderator of the panel discussion, what ideas the participants have for the moto to represent Armenia as the guest of honor of the Frankfurt International Book Fair, all of them mentioned the topics of place and memory in their answers.

Frankfurt International Book Fair 2023

ARI Literature Foundation was exhibiting at Frankfurt International Book Fair in October 18-22, 2023. The year was reach in different events, presentations, meetings on the fairs grounds and the Armenian National Stand. Due to efforts of publishers, literary agents, Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia as well as our partner organizations such as Konrad Adenauer Foundation, PEN Armenia Center and European Prize for Literature (EUPL) the visibility of Armenia at the most important book industry event was exceptional.

This year was especially important for ARI Literature Foundation since in cooperation with Konrad Adenauer Foundation South Caucasus and with the support of The Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia a panel discussion entitled Identity and Literature was conducted at the Frankfurt Studio stage in the frames of the fair.
The speakers of the panel were Armenian writers Armen Ohanyan, Anahit Ghazaryan and German writer and journalist of Armenian origin Laura Cwiertnia, German translator Susanna Yeghoyan from Graz, Austria. The event was moderated by the Director of Konrad Adenauer Foundation South Caucasus Stephan Malerius. The opening speech was delivered by Arevik Ashkharoyan, the founding director of ARI Literature Foundation followed by a welcoming speech by Zaruhi Hakobyan on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Armenia.

Different issues and viewpoints concerning reflection of identity in literature were discussed. Also, the effectiveness of usage of literature and culture as a tool in raising political awareness among societies was a key issue put on the agenda of the panel.