Sharjah: Writers of the hit Netflix series ‘Money Heist’ are coming to Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), which runs November 3 to 13 at Expo Centre Sharjah.
Javier Gómez Santander and Diego Ávalos, the Spanish creative minds behind turning the TV drama into a worldwide phenomenon, will lead a session on ‘Content Creation’ about how to approach award-winning writing for the screen.
Money Heist follows the twists and turns as thieves take hostages and lock themselves in the Royal Mint of Spain.
Guest of Honour – Spain
The duo will be visiting as part of Spain’s participation at SIBF as this year’s ‘Guest of Honour’ country.
Spain’s writing, cuisine, art, and culture will unfold at a dedicated Spanish pavilion to hold over 25 activities including literary discussions and book-reading sessions, culinary presentations, and cultural and musical performances showcasing the country’s biggest talents.
Publishing professionals will have the opportunity to network with Spanish publishers attending SIBF 2021 to explore partnerships as well as translation and rights trading opportunities.
Literary events
Other award-winning Spanish authors who will present sessions at SIBF include writer, scriptwriter and journalist Gabi Martínez, author of ‘Los mares de Wang’ and ‘Voy’; and novelist and poet Irene Solá, whose works are being translated into 17 languages, among other writers.
Forma Antiqua’s ‘La Caramba’
Spain will showcase one its most celebrated baroque classical music ensembles, Forma Antiqua, led by Aarón Zapico, one of the most sought-after conductors in Spain. The award-winning troupe will perform the legendary ‘La Caramba’, based on the life of María Antonia Vallejo Fernández, the 18th century singer and dancer who was famously known as ‘La Caramba’.
15 million books at SIBF
Themed ‘There’s always a right book,’ the forthcoming 40th annual SIBF is organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) and will see the participation of 1,632 publishing houses from 83 countries.
More than 15 million books including more than 110,000 new titles that will be making their debut in SIBF will be accessible to book lovers.
Sharjah as gateway to Asia
It was also announced on Wednesday that The ‘Bologna Grand Tour’ networking initiative by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) has announced SIBF as one of the stops in its four-nation tour for 2021.
BCBF organisers made this key announcement during the Sharjah Book SBA’s participation at the recently-concluded 73rd edition of Frankfurter Buchmesse, asserting that SIBF is a strategic gateway to new business opportunities as well as cultural exchange between Italy and Asia and North Africa.
The announcement follows Sharjah’s selection as the Guest of Honour for the 59th edition of BCBF, taking place from March 21 to 24, 2022. During a presentation organised by BCBF at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, SBA Chairman Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, detailed the emirate’s Guest of Honour agenda for BCBF 2022, highlighting that the programme includes theatre and performance in the fair and in schools across the region, in addition to dialogue and discourse on the future development of children’s literature and education.
