The 40th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF, which takes place from 3 to 13 November) takes on more and more global relevance. At least in the last two years it has done so in the Spanish-speaking world, first with the invitation of Mexico as the Guest of Honor country in the 2019 edition and this year with the turn of Spain.
The so-called largest fair in the Middle East and one of the most important in Asia seeks to position itself globally. It is no coincidence that the 2021 Nobel Prize Winner in Literature, Abdulrazak Gurnah, led the inaugural presentation of the 40th edition of the SIBF in his first public appearance after his announcement as the recipient of the highest award for letters on the globe. Nor is it to be dismissed that this year, still immersed in the pandemic, the SIBF has a record of editorial participation, with more than 1,600 stamps from more than 80 countries.
As one of the essential steps in this endeavor is to reach the Spanish-speaking public and its industry, to seek agreements for the translation, acquisition of rights and dissemination of oriental pens in the West. This has been stated by the Sharjah Book Authority. Another proof of this is the invitation of this emirate as Guest of Honor of the Guadalajara International Book Fair (FIL Guadalajara) in the 2022 edition, after the impossibility of a guest country in the 2020 virtual edition and the commitment already agreed to receive the delegation of Peru in the version of the current year.
But Sharjah’s presence in Mexico is only a fraction of the integral project for the quest to sympathize with the world. Proof of this is the presence of the SIBF as Guest of Honor at the international fairs in São Paulo and Paris, both in 2018; Madrid and New Delhi, both in 2019. The plan of the so-called “Cultural Capital of the Arab world”.
Arab women raise their voices
The SIBF, as part of the emirate’s cultural commitment, is going global. But not only that, the SIBF introduces in its programming urgent discussions to put on the table at any latitude, such as the contribution of women in local and universal literature.
Such is the case of the meeting “The presence of women in the reach of literature”, which included Arab authors, such as the award-winning Saudi novelist, Dr. Badriya Al Bishr, or her colleague, the Emirati author Asma Al Zarooni, vice president of the Emirati Writers Union, or the Bangladeshi-born British-resident writer and politician Rabina Khan.
At this meeting, Dr. Al Bishr said: “Today we live in a world where women can celebrate fairness. We have to express our uniqueness (as women) instead of being treated as men (…) that we are becoming a role model speaks of our ability, our capacity and our intellect in the editorial domain ”.
And what do booksellers and librarians say?
Within the framework of this great meeting, the Sharjah Book Authority has brought together more than 50 directors and owners of bookstores from 20 countries in Europe, North America, Africa and the Middle East, who during two days of forums have discussed the impact of the economic and health situation in the world during the last two years and how this practically stopped activities, they also shared the best practices to promote the return of the public to physical spaces, as well as discussed the relevance of international collaboration between bookstores .
Marie de Laubier, Director of Collections at the National Library of France, explained that, despite the fact that this institution already had a repository of around 8.6 million digitized documents, the pandemic accelerated this conversion to make it a more agile institution . “The challenge now lies in the face-to-face connection with our readers and visitors, to bring them back to the reading rooms,” he acknowledged.
For his part, Ghadeer Al-Ajmi, director of National Archives in Kuwait, shared that, in the case of this institution, launching a service via WhatsApp was the most effective measure to manage and maintain the service in the face of the growing number of digital users.
The bookstore Carla Hayden, of the United States Library of Congress, declared that “bookstores around the world have a collective mission: to reach and serve people who require information and can enrich themselves with the resources and services (publishers) that we provide (…) we are living a new normal that will not back down. The future is in digital growth and our efforts to popularize digital heritage will mark the digital preference over other types of formats ”.
In a pandemic, but with a record
Despite the ravages of the pandemic and the adversities that it may represent for the publishing industry in the world, with the motto “There is always an ideal book”, the SIBF is endorsed as the most important publishing fair in the region with the participation of more than 1,600 publishers and literary agents from 83 countries seeking trade deals. This figure marks a participation record for this fair, which, estimates the organization, “reaffirms the efforts and qualitative advances for the recovery of the publishing and creative industries in the world.”
Expanding its horizon is the plan of the so-called “Cultural Capital of the Arab world”, to sympathize with the Western world and in particular with the Spanish-speaking world. This is shown by its presence in Paris, São Paulo, Madrid and next year in Mexico.
This achievement is the product of a series of goals met by Sharjah and the SIBF. These include having been Guest of Honor at various international book fairs, including Paris, Madrid, New Delhi, and São Paulo, as well as organizing the largest international event held during the pandemic last year. This new triumph is the hallmark of the fortieth edition and a reaffirmation of the promise we made at the inaugural edition of the SIBF in 1982 ”.
Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Director of the Sharjah Book Authority, United Arab Emirates.
Reference-www.eleconomista.com.mx