Taipei, Feb. 11 (CNA) The 2019 Taipei International Book Exhibition (TIBE) will open Tuesday at the Taipei World Trade Center and run through Sunday, featuring representatives from hundreds of publishing houses and several world renowned authors.

This year, Germany is the theme-country and its stand at TIBE will focus on "German Stories," with a rich cultural program that emphasizes literary as well as professional and socio-political themes, according to the event organizers.

Together with Taiwanese authors, 13 German writers will present works at the fair, including Miriam Meckel, publisher of Wirtschafts Woche, Germany's largest weekly business publication; Holger Volland, vice president of the Frankfurt Book Fair; and Marc-Uwe Kling, a German songwriter, author and Kabarett (political stand-up comedy) artist.

The three German authors' works focus on current social topics, including artificial intelligence and technology and its impact on society.

Ferdinand von Schirach, a famous German lawyer and writer, will engage in a dialogue with Taiwanese Internet author Lu Chiou-yuan (呂秋遠), who is also a practicing lawyer and television presenter, while German thriller writer Sebastian Fitzek will present his work with another Taiwanese writer.

Meanwhile, Markus Zusak, the Australian author of the international bestseller "The Book Thief" will be among the writers attending the Taipei book fair.

Zusak is scheduled to attend the Wednesday launch of the Chinese version of his latest novel, "Bridge of Clay," at the fair.

Ichiro Kishimi, the Japanese author of The Courage to Be Disliked, will engage Taiwanese young people in dialogue.

Additionally, prolific French fiction novelist Éric Faye who has penned numerous travel memoirs, will also attend the book fair.

Another highlight at this year's event is the International Zone which will feature publications from 20 countries.

(By Chen Cheng-wei and Evelyn Kao)
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