115.000 people have visited the Gaudeamus International Book Fair in 2013

The Gaudeamus International Book Fair that took place between November 20 – 24 was approximately 115,000, of whom almost 75 percent also purchased books – compared to 112,000 at the 2012 edition, according to the official press release. Also, the organizers conducted a study throughout the book fair and found out that visitors spent RON 146 on average at Gaudeamus.

As we expected, the Gaudeamus trophies, the winners of which were selected by Audience Vote, were awarded on Sunday to three publishing houses – Humanitas (first place), RAO (second place), and Polirom (third place). The “Most Coveted for Book of the Fair” trophy was won by RAO publishing house for “The Hobbit” by J. R. R. Tolkien. The Excellence Award, worth RON 10,000 and offered by Radio Romania, was granted to Brumar publishing house from Timisoara for its bold promotion of editorial projects aimed at bringing contemporary Romanian literature forward, and for the refined elegance of its published books.

For the first time in Romania, the Goncourt Award was also granted at the GAUDEAMUS 20 award gala to Sorj Chalandon, as representative of the Romanian people’s choice.

Various projects organized by Radio Romania were set in motion during the five days.

This year, the Ion Creanga Children’s Book Salon was organized in partnership with the guest of honor. The “Books Are Coming Back Home” project enjoyed the same great success as last year. The collection of books gathered through donations from visitors and exhibitors consists of over 5,000 books that will be distributed in Romanian-teaching schools in Timoska Krajina (Serbia) with help from Radio Romania Timisoara.