The Forty-Fourth Sharjah Book Fair Opened

According to Iran’s Book News Agency (IBNA), quoting Publishers Weekly, the forty-fourth Sharjah International Book Fair, one of the largest cultural events in the Arab world, commenced at the Sharjah Exhibition Centre with the participation of over 2,350 publishers and exhibitors from 118 countries. The main theme of this year’s edition has been announced as the “Global South,” focusing on strengthening cultural and economic ties among countries in Africa, Asia, India, and the Middle East.

This year’s exhibition runs from November 1st to 16th (Aban 10 to 25) under the slogan “Between You and the Book.” Organized under the supervision of the “Sharjah Book Authority,” the event includes over 1,200 cultural programs, specialized sessions, workshops, and professional discussions in the fields of publishing and translation.

On the eve of the official opening of the exhibition, the “Sharjah Publishers Training Program” was held in collaboration with New York University, attended by 161 publishers, including 75 African publishers. This program explored topics such as the development of family businesses in the publishing industry, leveraging global market opportunities, selling translation rights, and the future of audio content.

In the specialized keynote speeches, Markus Dohle, former CEO of Penguin Random House, expressed optimism about the current state of the publishing industry, emphasizing that “now is the best time for publishers to operate in contemporary history.” Referring to digital transformations, he added: “The growth of technology should not be seen as a threat to books, but rather an opportunity to expand readership and content diversity.”

Concurrently with the exhibition, the “Sharjah Publishers Conference” was also held, with approximately 1,300 publishing executives from 106 countries attending. The conference featured roundtables focusing on the role of artificial intelligence in the publishing industry, digital marketing, cultural leadership, and the preservation of authors’ rights.

Gvantsa Jobava, President of the International Publishers Association, in her speech, stressed the importance of new technologies in reducing costs and waste in the publishing industry, while also warning that “challenges related to protecting authors’ rights and combating AI-generated content still persist.”

One Lithuanian publisher present at the exhibition also stated in an interview that, in the previous edition, they had successfully transferred translation rights for three book titles to Arab publishers and one title to Serbian and Macedonian publishers, describing this experience as a “successful example of cultural exchange between the North and the South.”

At the official opening ceremony, Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of the Sharjah Book Authority, stated that the goal of this event is to foster synergy among global publishers, saying: “If we truly want to grow and move forward together, we must learn from each other. This exhibition is a place for dialogue, learning, and cultural empathy.”

The Sharjah International Book Fair, organized by the “Sharjah Book Authority” and under the patronage of the ruler of the emirate, has in recent years become one of the important centers for copyright exchange and the introduction of contemporary literature from countries of the Global South, solidifying its position as a bridge between East and West in the global publishing industry.