Guten Abend, Freunde!
So I'm writing this from a little wooden desk in my hotel room in Munich, on a rare evening off from the Fellowship. I'll admit, it feels good to have a few hours' rest after five very busy days in Germany. If you didn't catch my blog post a while ago, I was picked to participate in the Frankfurt Fellowship, an event that brings together international publishing folk and provides them with a contact-building opportunity of epic proportions. It's really quite marvellous. This year is the very first children's book-focussed Fellowship - something for which all of the Fellows are grateful.
So far, we've travelled from Frankfurt, to Hamburg, to Munich - and by taxi, tram, train and plane. We've met with seven very different German publishers, taken part in a speed dating-esque afternoon with a further eight and even had a couple of dinners with a combined number of 14 publishing professionals.
This is networking but not as we know it, my friends.
The organisers behind the Frankfurt Fellowship are doing something quite brilliant, and their ability to create a schedule of this level, for 16 adults, is particularly impressive. I am in awe of their organisational skills! Somehow, they not only managed to create a highly interesting trip for us but also select Fellows who are able get on really well as a group. On top of that, our German friends Katharina Storch and Anne-Kathrin Hӓfner, who are looking after us for the two weeks we're out here, are two of the loveliest people.
So here are a few photos of the trip so far. To find out more about the Fellowship, and the 2014 Fellows, just click here.
Auf Wiedersehen(pet)!