Taking place against a background of Global Political and social upheaval this years Frankfurt Book Fair is reacting to pressing issues such as Digital Transformation and Climate Change and the challenges they bring. More and more activists and writers are concerned with the health of our planet. And their books are being snapped up by concerned readers. The world is off balance with extreme storms and flooding on one hand and widespread drunks on the other. Classes are melting and sea levels. Rising is catastrophic global Climate Change upon us no one is going to destroy the world except for us and nobody is going to save the world except for us putting aside natural fluctuations humans are responsible for 100 percent of the global warming. Can the world still be saved is a question that a growing number of writers are asking themselves along with the new genre climate fight climate fiction the topic also looms large in the field of nonfiction where the weather is the latest book by bestselling author Jonathan Safran foer he believes that saving the planet begins at breakfast. Its time we change the way we eat. It doesnt always look or feel big it often looks and feels quite modest. Im going to have oatmeal or so i know in my coffee instead of cows milk all right that doesnt work well on a barber sticker or a t. Shirt nobody you know raise the fist to the sky and says oh no but if we all did it if we all made changes just like that. We would save the planet. Every state q. E. Takes a toll on the environment Scientists Say cattle farming and extensive agriculture cause about one 3rd of total emissions. Burning the rainforests the planets green lungs and fossil fuels also does its part to heat the planet. Many plant and animal species are heading for extinction diesel one example and the disturbing promise of the best selling novel the history of bees by no region right at my end and. The 3rd installment of our climate quartet has just been published in german translation. It deals with the survival of a rare breed of course and humankinds responsibility for nature. Oh yeah we understand on my. Objective level that we should change the way we live because our plan. And if we need 6 now we start to understand more deeply and i think it novel scruby it way to get that understanding at least thats what the readers tell me. Will nature as we know that something exists only in novels and memorise the warning signs of multiplying and evermore a nominee. One recent study predicted that rising sea levels could inundate vast coastal regions of the islands in the mediterranean and. Right into space which translates as wild weather is a science based book written for the navy by physicist and Climate Research at friedrich auto she can pass and contrasts weather events of today with data from preindustrial times that amounts to proof of manmade Climate Change is able to cite that is to show how what we scientists are doing is different from what us President Trump is doing why the facts we found are different from these alternative facts. I think its important to understand that so we can keep actual facts separate from alternative facts. Climate questions have never before been so prominent at the book for revenues for nonfiction books in german on the topic rose 10 percent this year. The demand for information seems endless. The book fair is responding with Panel Discussions on the relationship between humankind and nature. The Climate Crisis is definitely helping shift books. Catastrophe sells when its your catastrophe it sells even better right but one of the things were seeing that is the nicer side of that and perhaps the most hopeful side is that were starting to come together around the Climate Crisis in a world that is very politically torn to pieces were finding the new enemy. Its mainly younger. People there are getting active the world over theyre demanding action from the politicians now theres a tune thats appeals to the powerful have made waves even in the book trade the messages get involved. In germany publishing houses are also getting involved and thinking about sustainability. Some have done away with plastic packaging. The hot plate Publishing Group asked resolved to reduce it see into footprint. And option and it was just as popular far the greatest problem as the paper Still Producing it consumes lots of energy and that makes up 70 percent of our Carbon Footprint and also another big part comes from transporting the paper and books and 4 together that amounts to another 20 percent and we also consider the c o 2 output of our business trips and our employees commute to and from work have ties and dollars become a top item. The company is leading the way for the industry and taking a big step towards greater environmental responsibility. One small a publisher meanwhile has gone completely climate neutral with notebooks made of grass paper but fully compatible. It seems clear that change has arrived in the world of books and publishing. Is that ask yourself eloquent photographs also tell of the destruction being wreaked upon our world and the suffering of humankind he is the recipient of this years peace prize of the german duck trade. During the 1980 s. There was a gold rush in brazil more than 50000 young men worked at the sarah palin mine. The working and Living Conditions were appalling sebastiano is a god oh documented the situation with this. Series of powerful photographs. Those pictures are now on display at the photograph his community im in stockholm. Greed violence hardship. These stark black and white images were taken in 1986 so i got those photographs won him world wide recognition and confirmed his uncompromising passion for this art form opting to be a footballer the 1st finger must be a box no of it but some can be a foot off you must have a play for the big believe the photograph to be there to walk with the light or all the planners with the composition photography is this that go through that quite thick piece that one out here must have these. Sagar those photos are so well composed that they almost seem staged some critics accused him of glorifying human suffering but he says he simply portrayed the situation as it was. The photographs capture a fraction of a 2nd in time but it took him weeks to prepare for the shots. That 5 days. And i mean this because i sleep with that i eat with the it it became part of then that means they were there for the wanted to be this guy in that allowed me to do a series of because. There was a lot of drinking in violence at the mine police were often called to the scene. And the policeman was just the present but the problem the state if you look at the walker he was holding the kernel of the rifle but the pauli smith has a gun in the other hand weve the finger prepared to shut the walk here will not happen this is a pit but sometimes they fire in some big q. So that his career was the subject of a 24. 00 team film that was codirected by his son. So i got a grew up on a ranch in southern brazil later he earned a masters degree in economics. In 1969 he was exiled by brazils military dictatorship. Sold out when his wife fled to france he taught himself a target free and became a freelancer his work was shaped by the poverty and violence hed seen in his youth if there were a photographer from street in front german for crowds. I had another view of the planet there was a view looking from here to solve the planet for the poor but i born in brazil you when i showed you pictures like this one. Its not to provoke a conflict in the course of what is im sure on the side my side that. Gatto chronicled the plight of migrants in a book of photographs called exodus. He took pictures of the civil war in rwanda and was one of the 1st to bring the conflict to the worlds attention. Later sagal combine photographs of landscapes wildlife and people who were living in ancestral communities into a project called genesis. So that those photographs are known for their compositional beauty and integrity. This one was taken at a few a National Park in zambia. For his latest projects im going to return to brazil to cover the devastation of the rain forest since the 1960 s. Nearly 20 percent of the forest has been destroyed so god says president bush you know has done nothing to stop the forestation heres the thing satisfaction for the business hes all. For war it destroyed for us now because of the International Pressure his saying that this for a 2nd the other for its not the true. So i gotto and his wife continue to use their photographs to call attention to the exploitation of people and our planet. Yes. But he has no desire to get involved in politics ok lets his photograph speak for him. On the biggest im not. Off in the political bot. I think my life inside the way this story in my picture was a little bit off as well so that this is just my way. Sebastiano saw that it was the 1st photographer to win the peace prize of the German Publishers Association in honor of his lifes work. A digital advances are also creating a people as well as exciting opportunities which are leaving their mark on literature to. The arts plus festival at the Frankfurt Book Fair explores the future of culture and creativity to be read. How will Artificial Intelligence affect the future of literature and culture. Holger volunteer feels comfortable in both worlds mullins is an author himself and the founder of the arts plus testable of Digital Culture and hes been studying the Creative Power of machines. One cant you guess right off the president were featuring Artificial Intelligence here at the book fair because it could play an Important Role in publishing for example in marketing toward it but itll take a few years before Artificial Intelligence will be able to write a quality novel sure itll help us. Now will travel from the Frankfurt Book Fair to the few turia berlins newly opened house of futures were meeting 2 authors meaning mondo who was born in india and now lives in new york. And can cause who was born in the us and now lives in vienna and berlin both writers are fascinated with the possibilities that. This is a fantastic. I think its a really interesting subject. And it dates back to frankenstein. Ai somehow manages to combine all these different topics and fantasies. In her latest book. Cotton betrays a wide variety of futuristic fantasies including time travel and parallel universes where thoughts become a reality a world of cyborg or human beings are not the measure of all things. Unless i see a number of different reality options and that includes intelligence that we cant possibly imagine and then. If you to relax a bit makes the unimaginable a bit more understandable what sort of art will machines be able to create. They just reproduce the original material thats been fed into them what with poetry generated by a Neuronal Network look like. The mural math can write poetry and the thing is because board is already a little abstract off so the neural net sporty often reads like a real person. Where is the poetry coming from then why does that make sense if a machine has written a woman and you still get feelings from mant then where where is the soul thats creating that. These new neighbors a serious challenge to our concept of human Creative Genius can machines really express the same sentiments as those that are found in the soul of the human artist or has that concept become outdated. What is a so it is a very politically loaded question because its one of the things that the colonizers the christians once and used against slaves and black people and people of other. Communities saying that its ok to treat these people like animals because they dont have a soul like only the christian has a soul. Was born in kolkata into this socalled untouchable cast which has suffered discrimination for centuries niemi believes that ai could provide people with an opportunity to fight injustice and make the world a better place. Theres discrimination in big data rich like changes their responses to certain people as opposed to other people and now that like theres a possibility of being able to reason for itself theres a large question all thrilled that y. Is Still Dreaming im already not one of the most privileged people in the world so i am not one of the people who will lose power if theres a different world order maybe its the conservatives who should be who arent. And cotton goes a step further she envisions a post you missed age in which people have simply become superfluous. Poster with some for their lives to. Post humanism is an interesting concept i enjoy playing around with the idea of having a world that gets along just fine without human beings just life will go on without them that may be my favorite fantasy. Of course in a world like that and cotton herself would become redundant hold of all in doesnt think much of such apocalyptic visions. Mushin and christmas are given its kind of mean why should machines create art when there are no people around to appreciate it besides i think its a terrible idea and its not going to happen anytime soon. The Artificial Intelligence is really good at compare and various kinds of data but not agreeing artists. And arts plus the new york Media Theatre Company 3 legged dog shows with such a dystopian future might look like. People stranded in an underground complex subject to. To the whims of Artificial Intelligence but even this vision was created by human imagination. Time now to head to norway this years guest of honor at the frank 1st book fair we visit bergen the wettest city in europe to see how the country inspires its writers. Its raining emberg and. It usually is but the bleak weather makes for a 1st child literary scene and overcast skies creativity is flourishing. Many leave the city and move away many dont manage to live in berrigan for long the prison like rain the damp confinement between the hills makes you sick and weary of life youre forced to live behind closed doors alone or in small families. Thomas aspinall writes about everyday ordinary experiences and about his home city. The music scene is very good to literature the scene is very good because it is just feeling of despair and being enclosed in the tween 7 mountains and i like i really like the people. And the mentality i like the language the way they speak very very cruel and harsh and the very very very annoying and very insulting very arrogant i love that. But theres another mentality he doesnt like for centuries bergen was a busy port and trade port affluence to the city. Missed a lot of own money and an s. P. L. Says these families are narrow minded conservative and obsessed with their wealth. Its also a city with all. Old traders all these old families and the mosque will take over the firm and youre supposed to and then you have this homosexual son will decide to stick door to destroys everything i like to. Anyone who can afford it lives in the hills away from the picturesque Historic City Center you know scovel heritage site its now a popular tourist attraction and usually teeming with visitors many of whom arrive on huge cruise ships. To see the changelog the shops change into stupidity thats the biggest problem the good stupid. What was that he said about bergen as being insulting and theres also another back and a city that is proud of its arts and culture such as the National Stage theater where henrik ibsen was writer in residence and art director. The coda are only ms currently hosting an exhibition of work by edward monk. The university and its libraries. And literature house complete with an impressive bookstore. And of course its writing academy where young with us from across the country come to hone their craft. World famous writer carl over glasgow was one of the schools 1st students and 1988 and Thomas Aspinall was his teacher suddenly you have this situation where there are really good writers living at the same office as you so we were challenging the charge of what can we do away with children what could be radical in that i would do something radical with literature and have to say i would do it even more radical than the sort of competition. That gave rise to a highly autobiographical and subjective style thats deeply personal steeped in one xyzzy and selfdoubt and minute lee detailed and completely. Knows the privacy office. Of the last communist socialist country in in getting all to europe it was the swedish Prime Minister who shot his troops because there was a still social democratic colleagues who way of thinking so you are supposed to take care of your own label to be a call to the collective you shouldnt say. So there was no in the church except the hopes of the peace the great exception of everything and we discovered that. And it was that they would say who the he or she thinks he or she is who do you think you are. A free man who speaks his mind thomas s. But i would no doubt. These days can ask god lives in sweden for the cafe opera where he used to meet up with other budding writers is still a fashionable hangout i was handing bags full organizes regular readings here tonight hes presenting an anthology of work by 12 local poets. Now not. Only do we have to do something i mean it rains all the time just 300. 00 days of rain a year so you have to do something we have to we have to sort of. That starts or a solution i guess towards depression. Going crazy we we we have to. Be creative to start. To survive in a country whose people have a pretty good standard of living thanks to the oil thats been flowing from norways offshore