Fair event's outreach: Storytelling goes across cultures

Skyscrapers, software and digital devices are similar across the globe. But while the world becomes more homogenized, there's an equally strong counter-force seeking the roots and characters of different cultures.

That force is so powerful that StoryDrive Asia, the Frankfurt Book Fair's all-media platform event that starts on May 28 in Beijing, has singled out cross-cultural storytelling - stories that shape us - for its 2014 theme.

"Everywhere we go, there is the unmistakable craving for stories from a foreign culture. All the while the world's getting globalized," says Holger Volland, vice-president of Frankfurt Book Fair.