Italy's spotlight at Frankfurt Book Fair sparks controversy

Italian best-selling author, journalist and outspoken government critic Roberto Saviano is attending this year's Frankfurt Book Fair —  but only because he received a special invitation from the German organizers following a controversy in his home country.

Saviano has built his reputation on exposing and criticizing the Mafia in books such as  "Gomorrah" (2006), as well as his latest novel, "Falcone" — centered on the life and death of Italy's most famous anti-Mafia crusader, judge Giovanni Falcone.

In recent years, however, Saviano has also drawn media attention for his harsh criticism of Italy's far-right government, led by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.

The author was forced to pay a fine of €1,000 ($1,090) last October for calling Meloni a "bastard" over her migration policy.

Many see his issues with the government as the trigger for the scandal around his attendance at the world's largest book fair,  which opened in Frankfurt on Wednesday.

Writers say censorship hiding behind Saviano snub

Every year, the organizers of the Frankfurt Book Fair choose one country as the "guest of honor," putting its literary scene in the spotlight. This year's "guest of honor" is Italy.

The Italian delegation was thus allowed to invite over 100 authors to represent the country at the five-day fair.

But when the list was published this May, Saviano's name was conspicuously absent.

In response, a group of over 40 Italian writers published an open letter decrying the apparent snub against the anti-Mafia author. The writers behind the letter — most of whom have been invited to Frankfurt — claimed the government is attempting to suppress critical voices "through more or less explicit forms of censorship" and "increasingly suffocating political interference in cultural spaces."

Publishers say there was 'no desire' to exclude Saviano

The head of the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) subsequently apologized for leaving out Saviano, but claimed it was done with no ill intent. Talking to Corriere della Sera in late June, AIE chief Innocenzo Cipolletta said the selectors followed the usual method of asking Italian publishers to suggest writers for the book fair. Once all suggestions were in, "Saviano was not there," because none of the publishers suggested him, Cipolletta told the daily.

"We did not add him, just as we did not add other names, and I am sorry for this, because Saviano is a very important figure," Cipolletta said in June. "However, there was no desire to exclude him."

Separately, the head of the Italian delegation, Mauro Mazza, said that they intended to put the spotlight on "original authors." Mazza then extended an additional invitation to Saviano, which the writer rejected.

Spotlight on Meloni's government

The apology did little to appease government critics in Italy, especially coming just days after another journalist, Giulia Cortese, was fined €5,000 for mocking Prime Minister Meloni's stature and calling her a "little woman."

Eventually, Saviano confirmed he would travel to Frankfurt after he was invited by the fair's director Jürgen Boos.

"Here in Germany they must have asked themselves: Why these lies, this obsessive desire for censorship?" he said in an interview for La Repubblica paper published on Tuesday. "But I don't consider myself a winner. Nobody won in this."

He also dismissed the explanation provided by the publishers' association in Italy as "hogwash."

"There are a lot of authors on the list that no publisher had nominated. It was a set-up. The AIE allowed itself to be influenced by politics. In our country, the culture is so deprived of resources that it becomes susceptible to blackmail," he said.

Meanwhile, Germany's writers association PEN Berlin commented on the scandal, describing Saviano as "the most famous Italian writer in the world."

"By not inviting him… the Italian government has only managed to put a brighter spotlight on its illiberal practices," Austrian author and PEN Berlin spokeswoman Eva Menasse was quoted as saying by the British Guardian.

Hesse premier warns against 'this damn indifference'

Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli has also traveled to Germany for the Frankfurt fair. At the opening ceremony, Giuli pledged to defend "the inviolable freedom of expression in any form," even at the cost of hurting his own government.

And in a thinly veiled reference to the scandal, the leader of Germany's state of Hesse, where Frankfurt is located, praised Saviano, noting that freedom of speech was "the first thing to be banned when dictators come to power."

Hesse Premier Boris Rhein said the greatest danger for democracy was "this damn indifference," pointing out that Saviano, just like his hero Falcone, is not indifferent.

"Democracies die slowly," Rhein said, warning that "many people only wake up when it is far too late."

Edited by: Elizabeth Grenier