Congratulations to Country Bookshelf in Bozeman, Mont., winner of the inaugural Europa International Book Fair Scholarship. Europa Editions, which announced the scholarship last month, will be sending one bookseller from the store to the Frankfurt Book Fair in October. Country Bookshelf tweeted: "Thanks so much @EuropaEditions! Looking forward to #FerranteNightFever."
Europa said the lucky bookseller "will attend bookseller-focused panels, meet authors from around the world, attend swanky publishing parties, meet Elena Ferrante’s 40+ international publishers and translators, and hang out with Europa at the biggest and best publishing fair in the world." The scholarship includes travel from the U.S., accommodations, per diem allowances, entry to the fair and a customized itinerary of meetings and events. The publisher aims to offer one scholarship per year.
In announcing the winner, Europa noted that it was "thrilled to share this honor with Montana's largest independent bookstore, which has brought quality books and cultural programming to the Bozeman community since 1957. Author David Quammen once called the Country Bookshelf 'one of the intellectual and cultural hearts of [Bozeman]' and the store regularly hosts national and local authors for a wide variety of book-based events."
The winner was selected by random drawing from among the 50-plus bookstores across the U.S. that will be hosting #FerranteNightFever events during the week of October 31 to celebrate the November 1 launch of two new books by Elena Ferrante: Frantumaglia: An Author's Journey and The Beach at Night.