49th Cairo International Book Fair to commence Jan. 27

CAIRO – 12 January 2018: Twenty-seven countries, including 17 Arab countries and 10 foreign countries will participate in the 49th Cairo International Book Fair, which will run from January 27 to February 10.

The details of the fair were announced in a press conference on Wednesday, January 10. The 49th edition poster was also released during the conference.

“The late veteran writer Abdel Rahaman el-Sharakawy was chosen to be the person of the year because he participated in the renewal of religious discourse in addition to being a renowned theatrical writer,” recounted Haitham el-Hag, head of the Egyptian General Authority for Books.

El-Hag added that the Ministry of Education will coordinate the first week of the second semester in tandem with the book fair’s second week as a “Reading Week”.

“The books industry in Egypt is the core of its soft powers, because it is the origin of all kinds of art,” Egyptian publisher Adel el-Masry stated during the press conference.

“We decided that the art camp of this edition will bear the name of the late great Egyptian artist Shadia,” el-Hag continued, “The 49th edition poster was designed by the book fair’s permanent committee in collaboration with the Egyptian Fine Arts Sector.”

Farid Dahman, the deputy Algerian ambassador announced that about 10 percent of the participating publishing houses are Algerian. Algeria has been chosen as a guest of honor in this year’s fair, after Egypt was chosen as guest of honor for a similar fair in Algeria last year.

El-Hag previously announced that the figures for publishing houses’ participation in the Cairo International Book Fair for this year increased significantly compared to last year.

“The increase in publishing houses’ participation in the 49th edition is 120 percent in comparison to last year,” el-Hag stated.

El-Hag added that about 144 new publishing houses are participating in the book fair this year for the first time. “The Fair’s Authority suggested launching a second round of the book fair in October. From our side as the Egyptian General Authority for Books, we are ready to cooperate in the launching of any book fair. We are currently discussing this proposal,” el- Hag said.

The 49th edition will host a lot of new activities for the first time, such as establishing theaters, cinema halls and fine arts halls, in addition to increasing the number of books dedicated to children.