“Italy is the Guest of Honour at the 21st Thessaloniki International Book Fair and this makes me particularly happy. Italy is Europe’s fourth largest publishing market, with a turnover of €3 billion 439 million in 2023, a dynamic literary scene with wonderful authors, many of whom we will see in Thessaloniki, a major force in children’s book publishing, reflected in the Bologna Fair, the most important children’s book fair in the world, and of course a great tradition of authors and books that have left their indelible mark on our reading tastes and reading attitudes. There is also a significant increase, from 84 titles in 2019 to 122 in 2023, in translations of Italian literary works into Greek. I believe that this potential will become more than evident at the 21st Thessaloniki Book Fair and across the city, through parallel events. The 21st Thessaloniki Book Fair is the first to be organized by the new Hellenic Foundation for Books and Culture and the presence of Italy is particularly important for us, not only because of the quality and range of its literary production but also because books in Italy are key to understanding how this Mediterranean society is changing. I would like to thank the Italian Cultural Institute, the Italian Trade Agency and, of course, the Associazione Italiana Editori for their close cooperation, which guarantees a creative and imaginative ‘Italy, Guest of Honour country’ in Thessaloniki from 8 to 11 May 2025″.