Gothenburg Book Fair (Bokmässan) 2027

The Gothenburg Book Fair, known in Swedish as Bokmässan, is the largest literary event in Sweden and one of the biggest book fairs in the Nordic region. It is held over four days each autumn at Svenska Mässan, the Swedish Exhibition and Congress Centre in Gothenburg, whose group also runs the fair. The Gothia Towers hotel sits in the same building, which keeps authors, publishers and visitors close together.

Unlike rights-led fairs such as Frankfurt or London, Bokmässan blends trade and public audiences. Publishers, librarians, teachers, journalists and booksellers attend alongside a large reading public, and the seminar programme is famously extensive, with thousands of events across dozens of stages. Each year has its own themes and a guest of honour country or region, and the fair presents the Mermaid Award, a literary prize created for its 40th anniversary.

The floor is organised into themed areas, including a Library Area, a Children's Area, School at the Fair with a stage for teachers, a square for world literature, a comics strip for smaller creators, and a Food & Crafts zone with its own stages. The International Rights Centre gives agents and publishers a dedicated Nordic meeting place for rights business, with tables bookable separately.

Exhibitors range from major publishing houses to small presses, literary societies, educational suppliers and consumer brands. For UK publishers and suppliers, the fair is a direct route into the Scandinavian book market, with access to buyers, librarians and educators as well as readers.