The Cairo International Book Fair is the largest and oldest

book fair A book is a structured presentation of recorded information, primarily verbal and graphical, through a medium. Originally physical, electronic books and audiobooks are now existent. Physical books are objects that contain printed material, mo ...

in the

Arab world The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...

, held every year in the last week of January in

Cairo Cairo ( ; , ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Egypt and the Cairo Governorate, being home to more than 10 million people. It is also part of the List of urban agglomerations in Africa, largest urban agglomeration in Africa, L ...

Egypt Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...

, at Egypt International Exhibitions Center in

New Cairo New Cairo ( ') is a satellite city within the Cairo governorate of Egypt, and the metropolitan area of Greater Cairo. Administratively, it is officially part of the Eastern Area of Cairo city, but like all new settlements in Egypt, it is di ...

, it is organised by the General Egyptian Book Organisation. The Fair is considered the most important event in the Arabic publishing world.

Scale

The Cairo International Book Fair is one of the biggest book fairs in the world, drawing hundreds of book sellers from around the world and about 2 million visitors each year. It is the largest book fair in the

,"Censorship trims fare at Cairo International Book Fair"
(Agence France Presse), '' The Daily Star'' (Lebanon), 29 January 2008. as well as the oldest.

Maya Jaggi Maya Jaggi is a British writer, literary critic, editor and cultural journalist.Maya Jaggi profi ...

"'They let the dogs yap'"
''The Guardian'', Saturday, 9 February 2008. In 2006, it was the second largest book fair in the world after the

Frankfurt Book Fair The Frankfurt Book Fair (German: , FBM) is the world's largest trade fair for books, based on the number of publishing companies represented. The five-day annual event in mid-October is held at the Frankfurt Trade Fair grounds in Frankfurt am ...

.Seif Kamel
"The 38th International Book Fair"
''Tour Egypt'', 24 January 2006. The fair is also notable as Cairo-based publishers produce an estimated three of five

Arabic language Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

books printed in the world, and the state owned General Egyptian Book Organisation—who coordinate the fair—is the largest book publisher in the Arab world. The fair features booths and speakers from private publishers and government agencies from around the world, as well as retailers of books, video, and other media. Lectures, readings, and other public events take place during the almost three weeks over which the book fair runs, and material is presented in Arabic, English, and other languages. The fair purposely appeals to ordinary Egyptians, with media on mainstream topics, outdoor events, and even fireworks to entertain the large crowds. The CIBF was founded by the General Egyptian Book Organisation, a government publishers and retailers group, in 1969 to coincide with celebrations of the 1000th anniversary of the founding of the city of Cairo. Its 41st iteration was held from 21 January to 5 February 2009. In November 2018, the General Egyptian Book Organization declared that 100 new books will be published under the organization's name in the Cairo International Book Fair.

Controversy

The CIBF has been marred in recent years by charges that

leftist Left-wing politics describes the range of political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social hierarchies. Left-wing politi ...

and

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

militant authors, works critical of the government, and works featuring passages or topics deemed sexually or culturally controversial have been banned from presentation at the book fair. During the 2000 book fair, Islamist protests against books they deemed offensive erupted into violence. That year, over 2000 members of Muslim student groups protested outside

Al-Azhar University The Al-Azhar University ( ; , , ) is a public university in Cairo, Egypt. Associated with Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Islamic Cairo, it is Egypt's oldest degree-granting university and is known as one of the most prestigious universities for Islamic ...

, leading to rare public protests against the Egyptian government, violence, 75 arrests and a number of injuries. The students were protesting an Egyptian Ministry of Culture publisher printing and presenting for sale copies of the 1983 novel ''A Banquet for Seaweed'' by the Syrian writer

Haidar Haidar Haidar Haidar (; 1936 – 5 May 2023) was a Syrian writer and novelist. He acquired a wide reputation for his critical attitude towards political and religious institutions and his willingness to cover controversial topics in a rational way. He ...

. Following the protests, two members of the government printing house were also arrested for "disparaging religion" and publishing a work "offensive to public morals". In following years a number of books presented by foreign publishers have been seized by Egyptian authorities. These have included works by Czech

Milan Kundera Milan Kundera ( ; ; 1 April 1929 – 11 July 2023) was a Czech and French novelist. Kundera went into exile in France in 1975, acquiring citizenship in 1981. His Czechoslovak citizenship was revoked in 1979, but he was granted Czech citizenship ...

, Moroccan Mohamed Choukri, Saudi Ibrahim Badi, Lebanese Hanan al-Sheikh, and fellow Lebanese novelist

Elias Khoury Elias Khoury (; 12 July 1948 – 15 September 2024) was a Lebanese novelist and advocate of the Palestinian cause. His novels and literary criticism have been translated into several languages. In 2000, he won the Prize of Palestine for his bo ...

In 2005, Egyptian police arrested a number of book sellers and activists at the book fair, charging two Egyptian journalists with "disseminating false propaganda against the government" and others for presenting an avowedly socialist work. The Fair was canceled in January 2011 due to the

2011 Egyptian revolution The 2011 Egyptian revolution, also known as the 25 January Revolution (;), began on 25 January 2011 and spread across Egypt. The date was set by various youth groups to coincide with the annual Egyptian "Police holiday" as a statement against ...

. The Fair returned in 2012 and "Nearly all of the new books, seminars, poetry recitals, theatrical shows and performances by different troupes at the Fair, in one way or another, seem to depict and celebrate the Arab Spring and the Egyptians' revolt."Ihab Shaaraway
"Egypt's Book Fair back with a vengeance"
''The Egyptian Gazette'', 30 January 2012.

References

External links

Cairo International Book Fair website
{{Books Recurring events established in 1969 Book fairs in Egypt Festivals in Egypt Culture in Cairo January 1969 establishments in Egypt Winter in Egypt

Scale

Controversy

See also

References

Further reading

External links