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.
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. Meanwhile, much older connections are being revived; Greece is the book fair’s guest of honour for 2025. The centuries long-relationship between the Hellenic and Arab cultures is being explored in a contemporary setting with interactive workshops designed to bridge Greek and Emirati creative traditions.
One of the book fair’s strengths has been its willingness to embrace popular trends in international writing while also championing Arab and Emirati creativity. So, although fans of whodunnits will have enjoyed this year’s return of the Thriller Festival - a showcase of the best in mystery and crime fiction from British, American and European writers - it will also feature an interactive performance, Murder at the Majlis, written by American University of Sharjah graduate Bhoomika Ghaghada and directed by Tarun Shyam.
This approach reflects Sharjah’s decades-long work to preserve, celebrate and support Arab and Islamic heritage. Home to numerous heritage sites, libraries, museums and art galleries, the emirate has played a significant role in strengthening the Arabic language, Emirati tradition and Islamic knowledge over the years. This has been done while championing intercultural dialogue and international exchange. It is this nuanced and informed approach that has contributed to the Sharjah Book Fair’s considerable success; any event that can consistently attract more than two million visitors in a little over a week has proved its worth.
When one considers the sheer amount of human knowledge and expression contained in the millions of publications on display in Sharjah this week, it is difficult not to be taken aback. The end of the written word has been predicted many times, and yet the book, the magazine, the comic and the newspaper remain as popular as ever. As veteran Egyptian bookseller Mohammed Sadeq told The National in Sharjah this week: “When you sit among these newspapers – some 50, 60, 70 years old – you see the stories of nations passing before your eyes … I have gone through them all and lived a thousand years in one lifetime.”
