The Sharjah International Book Fair is back and in full swing. The emirate’s annual celebration of literature is now in its 44th year and is bringing together more than 2,350 publishers from 66 countries, offering visitors millions of titles to choose from. As well as inspiring a love of the written word, especially among young people, the book fair is providing an important forum for publishers, authors and distributors to meet.
But it is the breadth of the book fair’s offerings – live performances, workshops, cooking shows and poetry nights as well as literary discussions – that highlight its well-earned role as one of the Middle East’s best-known cultural crossroads. In an era of shortening attention spans and sometimes profound disconnect, the hive of activity inside Sharjah’s Expo Centre is attracting people from the region and beyond to meet, to debate and, yes, to read.
This year's Sharjah International Book Fair offers more than 1,200 cultural and artistic events. Pawan Singh / The National
It is an intriguing mix. On Friday, Hollywood comes to Sharjah as Academy Award winner Will Smith is expected to give a talk at the book fair on his journey through film, music and writing.
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