The Taipei International Book Exhibition (TiBE) today officially opened, launching the 34th edition of Taiwan’s largest international book event of the year.

The exhibition opened at 10am at the Taipei World Trade Center and runs through Sunday, featuring 509 stands from 29 countries and more than 60 international authors, co-organizer the Taipei Book Fair Foundation said in a statement yesterday.

This is the second consecutive year since the COVID-19 pandemic that TiBE has featured more than 500 stands. In 2019, the last edition before the pandemic, the exhibition brought together 735 publishers from 52 countries with 1,859 stands.

Photo: Ling Mei-hsueh, Taipei Times

This year’s TiBE is themed “CreaTHAIvity,” with Thailand serving as the guest of honor for the third time and the first since 2014.

At least 18 Thai writers are expected to attend, including Veeraporn Nitiprapha, the first Thai writer to receive the Southeast Asian Writers Award twice, and former Thai lawmaker Pita Limjaroenrat, the foundation said.

Nitiprapha’s second novel, Memories of the Memories of the Black Rose Cat (佛曆西沉與黑玫瑰貓的記憶的記憶), which won her the Southeast Asian Writers Award in 2018, and Limjaroenrat’s The Almost Prime Minister (未竟之路：被體制封殺的泰國準總理皮塔，點燃一個世代的民主之戰), recounting his high-stakes journey during the 2023 general election and his ultimately unsuccessful bid to become prime minister, were published in Chinese in Taiwan late last month. An English version of Nitiprapha’s novel is also available.

Other international authors include Japanese writer Banana Yoshimoto, South Korean novelist Cheon Myeong-kwan and US novelist Anthony Marra.

During its six-day run, the exhibition is to open at 10am daily and close at 6pm from Tuesday to Thursday, 10pm on Friday and Saturday, and 6pm on Sunday.

Admission is free for students in Taiwan under the age of 18, as well as for people with physical disabilities and one accompanying person.

Residents south of Taoyuan, including Taoyuan itself, as well as Yilan, Hualien and Taitung counties, can also enter free with same-day high-speed rail or train tickets.

Single-day tickets are priced at NT$180.

Students in Taiwan aged 18 or older can purchase discounted tickets for NT$100 with a valid student identification card. The same price applies to people aged 65 or older and to the general public after 6pm during the final three days of the exhibition.

Ticket booths close one hour before the exhibition ends each day.