March 16 (Bloomberg) -- The Leipzig Book Fair, which runs from today through March 19, hosts about 1,800 events and readings at 250 locations around the city. The focus is on young German authors as well as foreign writers such as Hungary's Peter Esterhazy and Bret Easton Ellis from the U.S.

The fair, with roots in the 17th century, was Germany's biggest for more than 100 years until Frankfurt overtook it in 1945. Although now only about a third the size of Frankfurt's, the Leipzig fair has grown since the Iron Curtain fell, drawing more than 100,000 visitors last year.

It's an important marketplace for publishers and authors from Germany and Eastern Europe and, for the past 15 years, has hosted a literature festival that increased its appeal to the general public. New German authors, including Juli Zeh and Clemens Meyer, will be promoting books.

Others include Ukrainian novelist Andrei Kurkov, author of ``Death and the Penguin,'' and Esterhazy, who will present his new book about soccer. Giuliana Sgrena, the Italian journalist freed after being kidnapped in Iraq last year, will also attend.

The fair is open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. For more information, go to http://www.leipziger-buchmesse.de/ and http://www.mdr.de/leipzig-liest/.

Berlin Offerings

After winning an important chariot race in the early fourth century B.C., it was only common decency -- and common sense -- to thank the gods. A sporting hero from the Greek city of Oropos offered a beautiful marble relief showing a chariot mid-race, men and horses flexing sinewy muscles.

The relief is among a collection of votive offerings in a new show at Berlin's Pergamon Museum. There's also a plate of earthenware fruits and cheeses from Orvieto that look almost good enough to eat -- 2 1/2 millennia after they were crafted.

Bronze and earthenware animal figures -- birds, snakes and horses -- were popular gifts to keep the gods smiling, and a lot cheaper than sacrificing real animals.

``Gifts for the Gods -- Ancient Sacrifices'' is at the Pergamon Museum through Nov. 5. For more information, see http://www.smb.spk-berlin.de.

Dance in Munich

Munich offers an evening of contemporary choreography with ``Lebenslinien'' (``Lifelines''), a collection of four works including two new ones: Philip Taylor's romantic ballet duet ``Air'' and Mirko Hecktor's trash-culture ``I Am Not.''

``Air,'' set to music Aaron Jay Kernis wrote for his wife, is a romantic pas de deux danced by Rita Barao Soares and Corneliu Ganea. In Hecktor's brawny ``I Am Not,'' 10 dancers in flesh-colored leotards, some masked, others wearing pseudo-17th- century pleated collars, dance against an abstract video background. Hecktor and Daniel Ployer composed the electronic music that forms a cacophonic background to this pulsating piece about the dehumanizing aspects of contemporary life.

Taylor's 1998 ``Leaving the Tunnel'' is about the pace and struggle of urban living, while Jiri Kylian's ``Overgrown Path,'' is a glacial, melancholy work set to 10 short piano pieces by Leos Janacek.

Through May 12. For more information, go to http://www.staatstheater-am-gaertnerplatz.de or call (49) (89) 2185-1960.

Japanese Posters

The Munich exhibition ``Japanese Posters -- Today'' shows how graphic design in Japan has changed since World War II, with a display of 150 posters forming two distinct groups.

The first is made up of Japanese master designers, who redefined poster art starting in the 1960s. It includes artists like Ikko Tanaka, whose style combines western influences with Japanese traditional art forms. Tanaka's ``Man and Writing'' (1995) mixes the aesthetics of ukiyo-e, which dominated Japanese prints until the 19th century, with calligraphy and pop art.

In the second part of the show focusing on the past 15 years, posters by Kazufumi Nagai and his colleagues borrow from traditions yet put them in a new context, exploring the impact of globalization and digitalization. Taku Satoh's 2002 ``Licca,'' with big Bambi eyes, borrows from manga comics, as does Roki Katsunori who uses white crosses, the manga symbol for pain, in his 2005 poster for a gallery.

Through April 23. For details, go to http://www.pinakothek.de/pinakothek-der-moderne.htm or call (49) (89) 23805-360.

To contact the reporter on this story: Catherine Hickley at chickley@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: March 16, 2006 04:31 EST