Curtain down on Sharjah book fair that attracted 1.23m

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Curtain down on Sharjah book fair that attracted 1.23m
Visitors flocked to the Expo Centre, Sharjah, on all 11 days of the book fair.

Sharjah - Bonanza for UAE writers - Sharjah Ruler orders headquarters to be ready before next fair.

by

Afkar Ali Ahmed

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Published: Sat 14 Nov 2015, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Sun 15 Nov 2015, 1:00 AM

Nearly 1.23 million people visited the 34th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), which came to an end on Saturday.
The last day of the book fair saw the announcement of a permanent headquarters for writers and authors of the UAE, which will be built in Sharjah under the directives of His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah.
Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Sharjah Book Authority and Director of the Sharjah International Book Fair, who made the news public on Saturday said the completion of the building is expected before the 35th edition of the fair next year.
The announcement was made during the signing of a memorandum of cooperation between the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) and the Emirates Writers Union (EWU) on the sidelines of the 34th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair.
The memorandum aims at promoting Emirati writers globally and spreading Emirati culture around the world.
During the opening ceremony on November 4, Dr Shaikh Sultan gave a generous donation of Dh4 million to purchase books from publishing houses participating in the book fair as a contribution towards the support of book publishing and investment in human intellectual development.
Al Ameri, said: "The fair speaks on behalf of not only Sharjah but on behalf of the UAE, Arabs and Islam. It is a message from His Highness Dr Shaikh Sultan bin Mohammad Al Qasimi to the entire world in the light of the continuous endeavor to enrich the communication between the various cultures of the world."
According to organisers, the book fair witnessed participation of 1,547 publishing houses featuring 1.5million titles from 64 countries, including 890 from the UAE and Arab world.
The cultural programme of the Sharjah International Book Fair was packed with seminars, panel discussions and cultural evenings, which witnessed participation of writers and intellectuals from all around the world.
Three events were held daily at the cultural café ranging from book readings and discussing literary, artistic, historical, media and religious issues as well as matters of translation, children's literature, Arabic language and self-development.
More than 1,000 events took place during the fair out of which 33 were at the cultural café.
The fair witnessed the participation of nearly 50 speakers from the UAE both Emirati and Arab.
The number of visitors to the fair exceeded 1.27 million visitors from the UAE and abroad, including students from various schools in the UAE.
The sales exceeded Dh135 million, which is an indicator of the visitors' interest in the offerings of the fair.
Also, the second joint conference of the American Library Association with the SIBF was held on November 11 and 12.
During the conference, the Sharjah Book Authority announced the implementation of the Sharjah Libraries Digital Repository Project, which will be the next generation of digital libraries.
afkarali@khaleejtimes.com


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