Ben Hamilton
November 11th, 2016

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Presenting Audrey Carlan’s ‘Calendar Girl’ (photo: audreycarlan.com)

It wasn’t long ago that the three-day Copenhagen Book Forum, which turned the first page of its 2016 edition at 10 am today, was welcoming some of international literature’s biggest names.

In 2009, for example, its line-up included Roddy Doyle and Monica Ali, and in 2013, Michael Dobbs and David Nicholls.

But since then, some new kids on the block have emerged, like Louisiana Literature, and the foreign contingent has started to dwindle at the forum, which this year is celebrating its 25th year.

MPs reading to middle-aged ladies
While the big names continue to attend – some 1,100 authors are expected to take part, with 1,846 items on the full program – they tend to come from Denmark (with Jussi Adler-Olsen leading the way) and not list ‘author’ as their main profession.

A great many politicians – including Kristian Jensen, Mogens Lykketoft and Naser Khader – will be plugging their books to a crowd that is expected to be top-heavy with women over the age of 45.

And there will also be plenty of youngsters. An estimated 3,000 school children were expected to attend on Friday morning alone.

Erotic and young adult
An erotic fiction writer and Young Adult novelist are arguably the biggest draw for Anglophones this year.

Audrey Carlan’s ‘Calendar Girl’ series has been quite hyped in the US, where it has sold over 2 million copies. As the name suggests, there won’t be a shortage of sequels if somebody snaps up the film rights, as there are 12 books! Catch her at Stand C1-SCENEN on Saturday at 14:30.

Meredith Russo, who appeared at the forum earlier today, is best known for her novel ‘If I was your Girl’ – a universal love story about feeling different. She’s one of the leading names in the Young Adult genre, which is currently enjoying a renaissance thanks to the likes of ‘The Hunger Games’.

Crime and children
Elsewhere, Kiwi thriller writer Paul Cleave is attending. He has just released the fifth book of his ‘Christchurch Noir Crime Series’, and on Saturday at Stand E Nord-AUDITORIET at 16:30, he will be attending a debate about the international ‘crime story scene’ along with Iceland’s Yrsa Sigurðardóttir and Denmark’s Sara Blædel.

And a strong children’s line-up today included Disney cartoonist Don Rosa, most famous for his work with Donald Duck, and Patrick Ness, the author of ‘Monster’, the source material for ‘A Monster Calls’ starring Liam Neeson, which hits cinemas next month.