Sharjah Book Fair to receive the Nobel Prize for Literature 2021

The Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), in the United Arab Emirates, the largest publishing gathering on the Asian continent, will celebrate forty years of existence from November 3 to 13, with the presentation of more of 1,500 publishers from 83 countries and almost a thousand cultural events around this literary meeting that in recent years has had a close friend in Mexico, since our country was Guest of Honor in the 2019 edition of the SIBF and Sharjah will do the same. own at the Guadalajara International Book Fair in 2022.

The meeting, to be held at the Expo Center Sharjah, will have among its guests the recent winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature, the Tanzanian resident in the United Kingdom Abdulrazak Gurnah, who will make his first appearance there after being confirmed as the laureate of the highest award for the universal letters. This was announced by the organization of the editorial meeting.

Also present will be feathers such as Yasmina Khadra, pseudonym of the Algerian writer Mohammed Moulessehoul, whose work has been translated into more than 50 languages; Lebanese bestselling writer, educator and activist Najwa Zebian, as well as Bengali Indian author Amitav Ghosh and international participants such as Americans Chris Gardener, Michael Anderle and Kathleen Antrim, as well as AJ Finn, whose 2018 novel, “The Woman in the Window, ”debuted at number one on The New York Times Best Seller list and has already been adapted for a movie. These among many others.

Of the 1,522 participants, the Sharjah International Book Fair will provide space for 929 Arab publishers and 637 international stamps. Egypt (295), United Arab Emirates (250), United Kingdom (138), Lebanon (112), Syria (93) and India (87) will be the countries with the greatest presence of firms in the editorial meeting, while Mexico will be present in the meeting with 12 publishers.

For its part, Spain as Guest of Honor country will participate with 14 publishing labels and includes 25 special activities, including the participation of the scriptwriters of the popular series “La casa de papel”, Javier Gómez and Diego Avalos. Likewise, illustrators of children’s and youth books from the Iberian country will offer workshops in this regard.

“The 40th edition of the SIBF is a remarkable cultural milestone for Sharjah and the United Arab Emirates as we want to continue to focus our efforts on the growth and post-pandemic recovery of the publishing industry,” said Ahmed Al Ameri, Director of the Publishing Authority. Sharjah Book. “The SIBF will serve as a catalyst for new readers and a key piece in converting the industry to meet their demands. At the same time, the book fair will offer a platform for authors and researchers that will allow them to expand their areas of interest ”, he added.

ricardo.quiroga@eleconomista.mx