Reports from this year's Fair, and the themes of 2026 announced

This year’s Gothenburg Book Fair was a powerful celebration of books. Over four days, seminar halls, stages, and exhibition spaces were filled to the brim, with record-long queues and an overwhelmingly positive response from tens of thousands of visitors. In total, the 2025 Book Fair offered 3,750 program events, 320 seminars, 775 exhibitors, and 3,250 participants from 35 countries – including 151 international authors. The total number of visits reached 95,706.

“This year’s four days have been filled with an energy and engagement I’ve rarely experienced. I’m overwhelmed by how packed the seminars, stages, and halls have been. At a time when the world is facing many challenges, it feels especially meaningful that the Book Fair brings people together in such a strong way to support the book and its power,” says Oskar Ekström, Director of the Gothenburg Book Fair.

Québec, Popular Adult Education, and Games at the 2026 Book Fair
At the closing press conference, next year’s themes were announced: Popular Adult Education, in collaboration with Folkbildningsrådet/The Swedish National Council of Adult Education, the Swedish Academy, the University of Gothenburg together with Folkuniversitetet, and the Swedish Bible Society; and Games, a theme presented with the support of Göteborg & Co.
Next year’s Guest of Honour was also announced: Québec. The initiative is already having a major impact – around twenty titles from Québec are currently being prepared to be translated into Swedish.
Guest of Honour partnerships are now confirmed for 2026, 2027, 2028, and 2029, and discussions are ongoing for 2030.

The Ten Most Attended Seminars of 2025 (Thursday–Sunday):
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – receives this year’s honorary award The Mermaid/Sjöjungfrun from Fair Director Oskar Ekström followed by conversation with Agri Ismaïl
• A Little Talk Show – a new children’s format featuring some of our beloved characters such as Lollo and Bernie, Laban and Labolina, Pelle Svanslös, Yumi & Tomu, and Dolly Style
• Mission: Talk – a new audience-driven talk show with Mauri “Mustiga Mauri” Hermundsson and Marcus Berggren
• Secrets, Symbols, and 250 Million Books – Dan Brown in conversation with Björn af Kleen
• People, Memories, and Meaning – Fredrik Backman in conversation with BookToker Jack Edwards
• Writing Song Lyrics – Björn Ulvaeus in conversation with Fredrik Wikingsson
• Sweden’s First Female Prime Minister – Magdalena Andersson interviewed by Tilde de Paula
• Trump and the New Disorder – Jakob Hallgren and Isak Svensson in conversation with Pia Bernhardson
• To the Darkest Corner of Childhood – Alex Schulman in conversation with Malin Ullgren and Eiríkur Örn Norðdahl
• Forbidden Temptations – Julia Quinn and Sarah MacLean in conversation with Ayman Chaudhary

Highlights and Themes
This year’s themes, Love and Lust and Drama, sparked new conversations and attracted a broader audience. The romance genre had a major breakthrough, with international stars like Bridgerton author Julia Quinn and Sarah MacLean drawing large crowds.
In the Love and Lust section, Björn Ranelid officiated weddings live in front of the audience. The theme attracted so much interest that two stages were required – the Love Stage and the Lust Stage – both of which were very well attended. One of the highlight was Couples Therapy Live, which captivated a large audience and moved both participants and spectators to tears.

There was no shortage of star power, with names such as Dan Brown, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Björn Borg, Björn Ulvaeus, Fredrik Wikingsson, Fredrik Backman, Peter James, Jonathan Ames, Magdalena Andersson, Petter, Silvana Imam, Alex Schulman, and many more in attendance. Several events became major talking points – from Björn Ranelid’s weddings and Couples Therapy Live to the children’s talk show A Little Talk Show featuring Dolly Style and Yumi & Tomu, and the new audience-driven format Mission: Talk with “Mustige Mauri” and Marcus Berggren. Surprise moments came one after another – not least when Dan Brown spontaneously decided to hold a book signing after his seminar.

With the Drama theme, the Book Fair brought the performing arts directly into the exhibition halls and showcased how playwrights, through their writing, portray some of today’s most pressing issues. Interactions between novelists, playwrights, and actors explored the relationship between plays and novels while addressing life’s major themes – love, existence, and the future. From classical tragedies to contemporary plays, the sessions highlighted drama’s unique power to captivate, challenge, and bring words to life on stage.
The theme was carried out through a Nordic-Baltic collaboration between Colombine Theatre Agency (Sweden), Dramatikkens hus (Norway), Estonian Theatre Agency, TINFO – Theatre Info Finland, and the Gothenburg Book Fair, in collaboration with the Latvian Theatre Workers Union and the Lithuanian Theatre Information Centre, and with support from Danish Dramatists and Performing Arts Iceland.

“The interest in this year’s Drama theme has been overwhelming. Audiences lined up to listen to play readings, to get at glimpses into the playwright’s workshop, and view talks with authors like Marie N’Diaye, now recognized by Book Fair visitors also as playwright. Some recurring comments was ‘finally’ and ‘this needs to become permanent.’ Drama is now taking a major step into the Book Fair and the literary ecosystem,” says Hedda Krausz Sjögren, CEO of Colombine Agency and project manager for the theme.

A Key Meeting Place for Schools
Education was a central focus at the 2025 Book Fair. Two Swedish ministers participated – Minister of Education Lotta Edholm and Minister for Schools Simona Mohamsson. Both the Teachers’ Stage and the Education Track drew large audiences for timely and important discussions. The popular Pre-School at the Book Fair initiative continued to grow, this year gathering 5 000 participants – a dramatic increase compared to 800 in 2023 and 2 000 in 2024.

The Great Garden
Another new, much discussed initiative, was The Great Garden – a brand new exhibition area in Hall B, featuring its own stage, bookshop, and café. Spanning around 300 square meters, the space hosted 10–15 smaller publishers and literary magazines. This initiative, made possible with support from the Region Västra Götaland, was created to strengthen niche literature and ensure its place at the Book Fair.

“If I had a big garden, I would invite all my siblings there.” That line from a poem by Edith Södergran inspired the name The Great Garden – a shared space where niche literature, its publishers, and its readers can meet,” says Johan Kollén, Editor and Manager of International Relations at the Book Fair.
The stage program in The Great Garden was developed in collaboration with the Stockholm Literature Fair, with Jonathan Brott and Emanuel Holm leading the editorial work. The ambition is for the space to become a meeting place for both devoted readers and those looking to discover new literary worlds – and this year marked a strong beginning.

The 2026 Gothenburg Book Fair will take place on September 24–27.