Sharjah book fair to focus on innovative publishers
Visitors to get traditional novels at cultural cafe
Sharjah: A total of 770 publishers from 49 countries are expected to participate in the 28th edition of the Sharjah World Book Fair which begins at the Expo Centre on Wednesday.
His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, will inaugurate the event.
Organised by the Department of Culture, the event will run until November 21 and is held under the theme, "The Love of the Written Word," noted Mohammad Al Qaseer, organiser of the cultural programmes at the book fair.
Al Qaseer said that the number of publishers has increased since last year, as there were 706 publishers participating at the fair last year.
"The fair this year will focus on culture and innovative publishing houses, as well as to enhance the communication between the authors ... and the readers," said Al Qaseer.
Music
"Over 100 workshops will be held that will include discussions on how to protect the rights of authors and the criteria on how to write a book. A cultural café will be available for the first time to visitors, where they will be provided with traditional novels and classical music from the UAE and other Arab countries," he said.
Egypt tops the list of exhibitors in the Arabic section with 127 publishing houses, followed by the UAE with 120 and Lebanon with 98.
The UK will display the biggest collection in the foreign language section with 66 publishing houses, followed by India, the UAE, the US, Singapore and Germany.
A total of 110,000 titles will be available to the public at the book fair, which include more than 65,000 Arabic titles and 50,000 foreign titles on a wide range of subjects such as Islamic studies, library sciences, literature and languages, arts, geography and history, in addition to children's books. In 2008, there were 30,419 Arabic titles and 29,224 titles in the foreign language section.
A section is reserved for children, covering all fields of knowledge, in addition to educational computer programs and Arabic websites.
The quantity of scientific books available promises to satisfy students' requirements for a better understanding of their subjects.
A series of cultural activities will accompany the fair, including intellectual symposia, lectures by renowned Arab speakers and a poetry evening.
A number of literary personalities will be honoured in a ceremony to be held at the Cultural Palace. Noteworthy publishing houses will also be honoured.
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