Cairo Book Fair: The Show Scheduled To Go On

Next month — on January 22, 2014 — the Cairo International Book Fair is set to open as usual, although it will be two days longer than originally planned and without Turkey’s official involvement. General Egyptian Books Organization (GEBO) director Ahmed Megahed said at a recent news conference that organizeres are introducing a new award and expecting stability:

page-adsAccording to Moheet, organizers will take necessary precautions, but, “We have run the exhibition under poor conditions in the past two years, and I expect greater stability this year.”

Megahed told assembled reporters that 24 countries would participate in the fair: 17 Arab and seven non-Arab. Some 750 publishers are expected to attend, including publishers from Turkey, although the government will not officially be there. Megahed also listed Syrian publishers among those participating, although Syrians have faced difficulty in entering Egypt.

Kuwait is the 2014 guest of honor, given the spot, according to Ahram Online, “for its vital role in publishing and delivering books at low prices.” The theme is a generic “Culture and Identity,” following last year’s “Dialogue, Not Clash.”

There’s also a new award this year for unpublished manuscripts, where the award-winner set to be printed and distributed at the fair.

The fair is set to run through Feb. 4.

The fair also re-launched their website:

http://www.cairobookfair.org/

If you’re interested, they’ve also got a YouTube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/GeboChannel