Sharjah: The Pakistan Pavilion at the Sharjah International Book Fair presents a “golden opportunity” to buy books that are usually hard to find in the UAE, a publishing organisation said.
Welcome Group of Publications, the pavilion’s main organiser, said more than 8,000 Pakistani titles are on offer at special fair prices.
Pakistan is the Country of Focus during this edition of the annual book fair, open till November 17 at Expo Centre.
Group chairman Syed Qamar Zaidi said more than 22 Pakistani publishers are participating for the first time. In 2011, “only a handful, four or five of them” had set up shop; there was no dedicated Pakistani section.
“The Pakistani Pavilion is a chance to grab many popular Urdu books, there’s not that many of them in the UAE. The pavilion has lots of English titles as well, the pictorial books are doing great,” Zaidi said.
He estimated there are more than 50,000 individual copies at the pavilion, adding that some titles, like cook books of celebrity chef Zakir, are already sold out.
“There’s a full variety of Pakistan-published books here — politics, fiction, children’s, poetry, religion, newspapers, magazines. You name it, we’ve got it. Outside the book fair, you won’t find this much of a selection.”
Zaidi said visitor response “has been good so far, but it wasn’t easy to get publishers here”.
He explained: “There was just about a month left for the book fair’s opening [November 7] when we came to know about Pakistan becoming the Country of Focus. I roped in all my contacts to get this going.
“The book fair’s a good promotion, a golden opportunity for readers. [Meanwhile] some publishers have bought rights, others have sold rights. We’ve made international contacts. It’s a great exposure and a nice way to showcase your culture.”
Zaidi said the book fair is “improving every year. His Highness [Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and] the Ruler of Sharjah takes special interest in it.”
The chairman added that authors face hard choices in today’s digital multimedia-dominated world. “It’s a tough career choice to be a writer now. You’ve got to be really passionate — or really rich already,” he joked.
Other main Pakistani publishers at the pavilion include Oxford University Press-Pakistan and National Books Foundation, Zaidi said.
In addition, several star writers from Pakistan are taking part at the fair, with presentations and book-signing ceremonies among the activities. There will also be a Pakistani cultural programme on Wednesday at 8.30pm at the new ballroom at the Expo, located near Hall 5.
The book fair features 385,000 titles from more than 920 publishers, with over 60 countries participating. A dizzying variety of categories and languages are represented.
Last year, some 500,000 visitors came to the show and initial figures for this round suggest it will be a record-breaking edition.
