The biggest children’s publishing event in Asia kicks off tomorrow, 17 November. The Shanghai International Book Fair is a trade-focussed event, attracting 9,000 trade visitors last year, with 23,000 public visitors squeezing in. This year will be the fifth incarnation, and at a time when children’s literature is booming in China.

But for anyone arriving in Shanghai wanting something  a little more adult-focussed they need just tootle along to the Sinan Mansions development in Shanghai, where they’ll find, for two months only, a pop-up bookstore with a different author each day reading from their works.

Shanghai’s sixty-day pop-up book store. Image: South China Morning Post


The first guest, author Leo Ou-fan Lee, spoke to a crowd that had queued for hours to hear him speak.
But they are also there to buy books, and despite the store’s compact size some 3,000 curated titles are on offer.
After sixty days the store will be disassembled and, as yet, there are no plans to repeat the event. But judging from the popular reception so far that will probably change.
For coverage of the 2017 Shanghai Int. Children’s Book Fair, stay tuned.