Sharjah International Book Fair to kick off on Wednesday

Sharjah: The much-anticipated Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) will be raising its curtains on its 37th edition on Wednesday at Expo Centre Sharjah, it was announced.

The 11-day cultural feast, organised by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) has promised to bring more than 20 million books featuring 1.6 million titles, including 80,000 new titles.

Running from October 31 to November 10, the event will feature a host of leading authors, publishers and activities, the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) said. The free-to-enter fair is open to all members of the public.

Some 1,874 publishing houses from 77 countries around the world are expected to bring to the fair a host of literary, scientific and academic publications in different languages.

SIBF 2018, held under the theme ‘Tale of Letters’, will be the biggest edition so far in terms of the number of publishers and the volume of books this year.

Ahmad Al Amiri, chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority, said SIBF has a history of enhancing cultural mobility and accumulation.

“Back in 1982, the first edition of SIBF started with six publishers. Thanks to the vision of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, whose focus on the cultural future of the emirate has led Sharjah to its several accomplishments and collaborations with other entities,” he said.

“SIBF is a reflection of our succeeding efforts, which stands today as the region’s largest and the world’s third largest book fair,” he added.

An international platform where readers, publishers, authors and intellectuals will hold the banner, ‘The power of culture is far stronger than the culture of power’, SIBF will see more than 470 authors, poets and artists in attendance, 200 book-signing ceremonies by authors from 19 countries and 1,800 cultural and entertainment activities taking place.

In the past few years, the SIBF surpassed expectations, becoming an exceptional cultural and intellectual phenomenon in the region, Al Ameri stressed.

“As far as the number of visitors are concerned, we can refer to last year’s record-breaker, which witnessed a 2.38 million footfall. A direct consequence was seen on the book fair’s overall sales figures, which spiked 17 per cent since 2016 to reach a staggering number of Dh206 million,” Al Amiri noted.

SIBF 2018 promises to be another page-turner and will surely keep its audience on the edge of their seats. While visitors can once again look forward to a spectacular festival with a world-class collection of books on display, be in company of celebrated authors and savour a diversity of rich cultural events.