Sharjah prepares for International Book Festival; 1559 publishers from 83 countries will attend

The book fair will be held at the Expo Center in Al Taawun, Sharjah from November 3 to 13 under the theme ‘Here is a book for you’. Sheikh Dr. Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, Member of the Supreme Council of the UAE and Ruler of Sharjah. The fair is under the patronage of Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi. Ahmed Rukad al-Amiri made the remarks at a press conference on Wednesday at the House of Wisdome in Sharjah’s Baitul Hikma ().

This time the host country is Spain. This year’s winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature is Tanzanian writer Abdur Razzaq Gurna. American writer Chris Gardner, Jnana Peetham winner Amitav Ghosh from India and world travel writer from Kerala.
Kerala Govt. Planning committee member Santosh George Kulangara will also be present.

More names of those coming from India will be announced in the coming days. During the 11-day fair, book launches, discussions on various topics, discussions, interviews,
Kukari Corner, concerts, stage shows and various cultural events will also be held.

Writers, various artists and publishers will gather at the fair. By 2020, most of the discussions at the fair were online. Guests also attended online.
The fair will feature 1559 publishers from 81 countries, including India. 83 publishers including Malayalam will be present. Most publishers arrive from Egypt, 293.

There will be 240 publishers from the UAE. The others are Britain 132 and Lebanon 111. This time publishers are coming from many new countries. 10 new countries will participate in the fair, including Tanzania, Algeria, Colombia, Cameroon and Sudan. The book fair is from 10 am to 10 pm except Friday.

Admission is free to the public on Fridays from 4pm to 10pm. Admission is open to business visitors, publishers, researchers, institutions and libraries from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. Visitors must register online at www (dot) sibf (dot) com.

There was no Writers’ Forum last year as restrictions were imposed following Kovid. The Writers’ Forum is a platform for the release of Indian books, including Malayalam. In the absence of the Writers’ Forum last year, most were released in front of stalls. It is expected that 130 books will be released this time. As usual, publishers will be arriving with a number of books by famous authors.

The Publishers Conference will be held from October 31 to November 2, before the Book Fair. 520 publishers and 35 publishers will attend. The conference is a three-day conference led by an international publishing organization. Issues faced by publishers will be discussed. The rights to translate the book will be transferred. The 8th Sharjah International Library Conference will be held from November 9 to 11. Librarians, library professionals and speakers will attend.

Book Festival General Coordinator Qoula: Al Mujaini, UAE Ambassador to Spain Spain Linigo de Plascio Xpana, Sharjah Police Director General of Operations Brigadier General Dr. Ahmed Saeed Al Naur, Director General of Etisalat Northern Emirates Abdul Aziz Thariam, Director of Sharjah TV and Radio Dr. Muhammad Hassan Khalaf and others were present.