The 43^rd edition of the Sofia International Book Fair will take place at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in the Bulgarian capital between December 8 and 13.

More than 200 publishing houses will be represented at the largest book forum in Bulgaria, which will feature more than 80 events – presentations, readings and discussions.

Book lovers will be able to meet authors from Macedonia, Romania, Hungary and Malta as well as writers from the Iberian peninsula, who are in the focus of the third edition of the International Literary Festival, which began in NDK on November 25.

The main programme of the literary festival begins in the marble lobby of NDK on Tuesday and similarly to the book fair will last until Sunday.

This year’s edition of the literary festival gathers 29 Bulgarian writers and twelve authors from Spain and Portugal.

In honour of the Iberian peninsula, the facade of NDK will be illuminated with the colours of the Spanish and Portuguese flags.

Poetry will be in the focus of the accompanying programme of Bulgarian authors, while the special floor dedicated to international literature, will also offer books in Turkish, Serbian, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, Danish, Russian and Persian.

The opening of both the book fair and the main programme of the literary festival will take place at 11:00 EET on Tuesday in the central lobby of NDK.

The opening will be attended by Henrique Mota, Vice-President of the Federation of European Publishers.

Association Bulgarian Book, which is the organiser of both events, will give out its awards “Golden lion” recognising contribution to book publishing on Friday.

Apart from the events, the festival will also attract visitors by the discounts offered by publishers.