Cairo International Book Fair
The Cairo International Book Fair is one of the biggest book fairs in the world with hundreds of book sellers and about two million visitors every year. It is the largest book fair in the Arab world,[1][2] as well as the oldest.[3] In 2006 it was the second largest book fair in the world after the Frankfurt Book Fair.[4] It is held every year in the last week of January in Cairo, Egypt, at the Cairo International Fair Grounds in Madinat Nasr, near Al-Azhar University. It is organised by the General Egyptian Book Organisation.
Size
changeCairo publishers make 60% of Arabic language books printed in the world.[3] The state owned General Egyptian Book Organisation, is the largest book publisher in the Arab world.[3] The fair has displays and speakers from publishers and government agencies from around the world, as well as sellers of books, video, and other media.[5][6] Lectures, readings, and other public events take place during the three weeks the of the book fair, with items in Arabic, English, and other languages. The fair brings in ordinary Egyptians, with media on a range of topics, outdoor events, and even fireworks to entertain the large crowds.[7]
The CIBF was started by the General Egyptian Book Organisation, a government publishers and retailers group, in 1969 as part of the celebrations of the 1000th anniversary of the start of the city of Cairo.[4] The 41st fair was held from 21 January to 5 February 2009.[8]
Controversy
changeThe CIBF has had problems in recent years. Leftist and Muslim militant authors, works critical of the government, and works with sections or topics that are seen as sexually or culturally controversial have been banned from the book fair.[9][10][11][12][13] During the 2000 book fair, Islamist protests became violent. That year, more than 2000 members of Muslim student groups protested outside Al-Azhar University. This led to rare public protests against the Egyptian government, violence, 75 arrests and a number of injuries. The students were protesting an Egyptian Ministry of Culture publisher printing and selling copies of the 1983 novel A Banquet for Seaweed by the Syrian writer Haidar Haidar. After the protests, two members of the government printing house were also arrested for "disparaging religion" and publishing a work "offensive to public morals".[14]
In later years a number of books from foreign publishers have been taken by Egyptian authorities. These have included works by Czech Milan Kundera, Moroccan Mohamed Choukri, Saudi Ibrahim Badi, Lebanese Hanan al-Sheikh, and fellow Lebanese novelist Elias Khoury[15] In 2005, Egyptian police arrested a number of book sellers and activists at the book fair. Two Egyptian journalists were arrested for giving out "false propaganda against the government" and others for presenting socialist work.[16]
References
change- ↑ Censorship trims fare at Cairo International Book Fair Archived 2007-01-05 at the Wayback Machine. Agence France Presse. January 29, 2008
- ↑ Crowds flocking to Sana’a International Book Fair Archived 2012-02-13 at the Wayback Machine. Huda al-Kibsi, Yemen Observer. Oct 30, 2007
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 They let the dogs yap'. Maya Jaggi. The Guardian, Saturday 9 February 2008
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 The 38th International Book Fair. Seif Kamel, Tour Egypt. 24 January 2006. Archived 2012-05-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Speakers at the 41st Cairo International Book Fair. The British Council (2009) Archived 2012-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ High interest, no readers. Zvi Bar'el, Haaretz. February 2008. Archived 2012-10-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Johannes Ebert: A mandate to dialogue. Sherif Abdel-Samad, Al-Ahram Weekly. 8-14 March 2007. Archived 2012-04-18 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Cairo International Book Fair, 21 January-5 February: Programme Archived 2009-03-17 at the Wayback Machine. Al-Ahram. January 2009
- ↑ God and woman in Egypt. A feminist writer accused of insult to Islam religion. Amr Eman, San Francisco Chronicle. Sunday, May 6, 2007 Archived 2012-03-15 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Hot Egyptian novel sends pulses racing[permanent dead link]. JOSEPH MAYTON (Middle East Times). April 21, 2008
- ↑ Off the shelf -- and then where?. Al-Ahram. 7 February 2001 Archived 2012-07-21 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Egypt censors book fair[permanent dead link]. AFP 29 January 2008
- ↑ Book fair opens amid controversy. Heba Sala, BBC 25 January 2001 Archived 2012-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Cairo book protesters released. BBC 12 May 2000 Archived 2012-03-27 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ Lebanese Books Censored at Cairo Fair. Nahar Net (Beruit) 29 January 2008.
- ↑ Detained journalist begins hunger strike Archived 2012-06-30 at Archive.today. International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) 08 February 2005
- Cairo International Book Fair Archived 2008-02-10 at the Wayback Machine. ISTC Travel guide. 2005.
- Ingrid Wassmann. Censorship and social realism at the Cairo Book Fair. Arab Media & Society. Issue 5, Spring 2008.
- The 40th Cairo Book Fair: Competition between Center and Periphery. Mona Naggar. Translated from the German by Isabel Cole. Neue Zürcher Zeitung/Qantara.de 13 February 2008.
- Pink suitcases, flowerpots turn heads at book fair[permanent dead link]. Shaina Azad. Daily News Egypt. January 29, 2009.
Other websites
change- www.cairoibf.org Archived 2010-02-07 at the Wayback Machine: official site (Arabic).