Press release 070922: Protest signs available to everyone to tackle the climate crisis – the greatest challenge of our time – written by the great authors of our time.

The Gothenburg Book Fair — the largest annual cultural event in the Nordics — has the Climate Crisis as its theme this year. A crisis that has forced people around the world to demonstrate, with messages that call for action. To illustrate the power of literature, the Gothenburg Book Fair has commissioned some of our most acclaimed authors — such as Jojo Moyes, Naomi Klein, and David Lagercrantz - to write protest signs for the climate. The purpose is to give more people access to one of our most powerful tools to generate change — the written word.

Literature has a unique ability to upset, touch and inspire us. In response to the climate crisis, the Gothenburg Book Fair has asked about fifty distinguished authors from around the globe to write their own protest signs in favor of the climate - also called Hope Signs - and make them available for anyone to use. Globally recognized authors like Jojo Moyes, Anthony Doerr, and David Lagercrantz, and climate activists such as Naomi Klein and Vanessa Nakate, together create a collection of visually striking signs filled with impactful and hopeful messages.

The Hope Signs aim to enable everyone to get involved to tackle the greatest challenge of our time, with the words from the great writers of our time.

       – The Climate Crisis theme at this year’s Gothenburg Book Fair is about uniting culture and science to engage and mobilize people around the greatest challenge of our time. The purpose of Hope Signs is to illustrate the power of the written word and writers’ ability to inspire change. We hope that the signs will evoke interest, reflection, and action, both amongst the authors themselves, our visitors at the book fair and anyone else who comes across them, says Oskar Ekström, Program Director at the Gothenburg Book Fair.

        – It's a pleasure to be part of the Hope Signs campaign. In Fridays For Future, our protest signs are one of the most powerful tools we have to convey our message. Whether you are a young person protesting alone and posting pictures online, or someone participating in a march of hundreds of thousands, our signs help us to hold leaders accountable for the climate crisis, says Ugandan climate justice activist Vanessa Nakate.

The protest signs are available in a digital library [https://hope-signs.vercel.app/] where everyone can access the authors' words about the climate crisis. By downloading the signs, they can be used in climate protests or shared on social media to fight for climate action online.

Physical versions of the protest signs can be experienced at the book fair from the 22^nd to the 25^thof September and in a Hope Signs Pop-up in central Gothenburg.

The signs will be exhibited in the area for the Climate Crisis theme at the book fair and will frame the center stage where prominent authors, researchers, journalists, and activists will meet in conversations and debates about the climate.

My sign is about the importance of widening our thinking, our feeling, our activism, and our behaviours, beyond the imperatives of capitalism and human enrichment. It's an animist proposition, that there are many living things on this planet and only a tiny fraction are human. We have only just arrived. We are the destructive and self-absorbed newcomers. I believe there is a radical musicality to climate activism. Yes, we must shout as loudly as we can at the people with the power to make urgent change, but we must also listen: The earth is telling us things. It sings, says the acclaimed British author Max Porter, who is also participating in Hope Signs. 

The Hope Signs Pop-up

A few of the physical Hope Signs will be exhibited in Viktoriapassagen in Gothenburg between the 13^th and the 25^th of September. The gallery will also host a protest writing booth where materials are provided to let visitors write their own protest signs while being inspired by the Hope Signs that are on view.

Auction in favor of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation

The physical edition of each sign will be put up for auction. All proceeds will be donated directly to the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation and their work for the environment. The auction is live between September 8^th at 12.00 AM until September 25^th at 11.59 PM.

Hope Sign Design

The Hope Signs are designed by Swedish graphic designer Johanna Burai. The design is inspired by the colors of heat maps – as a visual reminder of global warming – as well as the graphic shapes of warning signs to represent the urgent situation in which we find ourselves.

About the theme Climate Crisis at the Gothenburg Book Fair

Climate change must take place here and now. Emissions must be reduced very quickly. The scientists agree that the climate is changing - fires, droughts, heat waves and torrential rains have followed each other all over the world in recent years, including in Sweden, and the problems will increase as the temperature rises. It’s a huge challenge – but we still have a chance. It requires the commitment of everyone. That is why the Climate Crisis is one of the themes at this year’s Gothenburg Book Fair. Authors, researchers, politicians, activists, and others from all over the world are invited to together find ways to move forward at this crucial time. The theme at the book fair is arranged in collaboration with the Sweden-based think tank Global Challenge, Stockholm Resilience Center at the Stockholm University, Climate Live/Fridays for Future as well as a wide range of publishers and organizations.

About the Gothenburg Book Fair

The Gothenburg Book Fair, the 38th of its kind, runs from September 22^nd to the 25^th, 2022. The Climate Crisis, South Africa, Crime Time and Voices from Ukraine are the themes at this year’s book fair. The Book Fair Play is today an integral part of the book fair, and many seminars and stage programs will be broadcasted live here and will also be available to stream afterwards. Read more about the Gothenburg Book Fair at https://goteborg-bookfair.com/

Authors participating in Hope Signs

Anders de la Motte, Anis Don Demina, Anne Sverdrup-Thygeson, Annika Norlin, Anthony Doerr, Athena Farrokhzad, Björn Wiman, Bodil Jönsson, Caroline Grimwalker, Celia B Dackenberg, Daniel Sjölin, Dave Goulson, David Lagercrantz, Eli Åhman Owetz, Emily Joof, Food Pharmacy, Frida Boisen, Izabella Rosengren, Jenny Rogneby, John Ajvide Lindqvist, Jojo Moyes, Jonna Bornemark, Josefine Sundström, Karin Alfredsson, Lars Sund, Lasse Berg, Lauren Groff, Lisen Schultz, Lucy Diamond, Malin Berghagen, Margit Richert, Marianne Mörck, Marjaneh Bakthiari, Masoud Gharehbaghi, Matilda Westerman, Mats Söderlund, Max Porter, Melinda Jacobs, Naomi Klein, Niclas Christoffer, Nina Wähä, Pella Thiel, Pernilla Ericson, Rachel Carson, Sara Blædel, Stefan Casta, Susanna Alakoski, Sven Nordqvist, Sébastien Boudet, Theodor Kallifatides, Thomas Bodström, Thomas Engström, Ulrica Norberg, Vanessa Nakate, Veronica Palm, Viveca Sten.

For any questions, please contact

Maria Rogstad Norberg, Head of Communications at the Gothenburg Book Fair
mn@bokmassan.se, tel. +46 072-211 93 39

Pressbilder

• The Gothenburg Book Fair Hope Signs Hero image
• Emily Joof Bokmässan Hope Signs Portrait 1
• Emily Joof Bokmässan Hope Signs Portrait 2
• David Lagercrantz Bokmässan Hope Signs Portrait 1
• David Lagercrantz Bokmässan Hope Signs Portrait 2
• Max Porter Anthony Doerr Naomi Klein Jojo Moyes
• Anthony Doerr Vanessa Nakate Jojo Moyes
• Vanessa Nakate Pella Thiel Max Porter
• 1x1 Vanessa Nakate
• 9x16 Vanessa Nakate 
• 1x1 Max Porter
• 9x16 Max Porter
• 16x9 Max Porter
• 1x1 Lauren Groff
• 9x16 Lauren Groff
• 16x9 Lauren Groff
• 1x1 Jojo Moyes
• 9x16 Jojo Moyes
• 16x9 Jojo Moyes
• 1x1 Anthony Doerr
• 9x16 Anthony Doerr
• 16x9 Anthony Doerr

Photo, all: Alexander Donka

• Video Max Porter
• Video Max Porter och Lauren Groff

Photo, video: the authors themselves