The 47th edition of the Cairo International Book Fair opens Wednesday under the theme of “Culture in Confrontation” and is scheduled to conclude on February 10. No less than 34 countries are expected to participate, including Arab and African states such as Bahrain, Kuwait, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Oman, Palestine, Jordan, Libya, Yemen, Sudan, Somalia, Ethiopia, Algeria, Iraq, Morocco, Syria, Lebanon, Qatar and Eritrea. In addition, Italy, Russia, Azerbaijan, India, Germany, France, the Czech Republic, Greece, China, Kazakhstan and Paraguay will be represented at the fair. The fair is usually a widely visited event and according to the Egyptian State Information Service, “Up to 850 publishers will participate, including 50 foreigners, 250 Arab and 550 Egyptian publishers.” However, it is not yet established whether President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi will inaugurate the event but according to Ahram Online, “There is no planned meeting between the president and intellectuals.” This meeting is a tradition initiated by former president Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled in a popular revolution in 2011. With regards to this year’s theme, Haitham El-Hajj Ali – chairman of the General Egyptian Book Organisation – said that “culture is the…
Egypt’s Annual Book Fair Kicks Off With Record Number of Contributing Countries
January 27, 2016
