Sharjah Book Fair
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14 November 2009
I know little about book fairs, but the ones we hear about tend to take place in Western Europe. Reminds me a little of when I was in the film world, and the most-attended film festivals by Americans were Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Amsterdam, Rotterdam, etc. Mostly because of the expense of getting to African and Asian festivals, which was often prohibitive — though I think there was also a sense of going with the “brand names,” wanting not to waste time.
But it’s nice to hear about a book fair in a far-flung (from us) part of the world. The Sharjah World Book Fair, which takes place just outside of Dubai, opened on Wednesday. Here’s a blurb from Publisher’s Weekly, and here’s the Sharjah World Book Fair’s web site.
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Arabs are the worst when it comes to reading. Or that’s what is my opinion. I am yet to meet an arab who understands the value of a good book. The ones who read book are either have close ties with Europe or other western nations or only reads religious books. I hope these kind of book fairs open the minds of arab youth to international literature. Thanks.