French books, authors to feature at fair

Manama : France will be the "guest of honour" at the 20th edition of the Doha International Book Fair, a tribute to its outstanding book production and cultural heritage.

The 240-square metre "Pavilion de la France", managed by the French embassy in Qatar, will feature eight French publishing houses, including Actes Sud, Albin Michel, La Martini re, Editions du Louvre, Connaissance des Arts, Koutoubia, Le Cherche-Midi and Dargaud.

The publishing houses will display, throughout the ten-day fair, more than 2,000 French books from comics to gastronomy books as well as magazines, tourism guides and "Beaux Livres".

Publishing Houses specialising in translating Arab authors will also be present with books in Arabic while the pavilion "Le Cafe Litteraire" (French Literature Coffee Shop) will feature books, games and contests, a news agency said.

Special guests including Nicole Guedj, a former minister and author of For Red Helmets in the UN, Philip Plisson, a photographer, and Laurent Verron, the illustrator of the comic books Boule et Bill, will meet the public to discuss their work and projects.

Exhibitions about both Qatar and France by Qatari and Doha-based French photographers will be displayed at the pavilion.

Conferences

A series of conferences, organised by the Ministry of Culture, Arts and Heritage with the theme "Common Culture", will be held on January 2-5.

Dominique Baudis, president of the Institute of Arab World in Paris, Slimane Zeghidour, editor in chief of TV5 Monde, and Taher Ben Jelloun, a writer, will be among the speakers at the event.