Sharjah Book Fair 2025, its 44th session, begins tomorrow

Sharjah, 4 November / WAM / Under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Member of the Supreme Council and Ruler of Sharjah, the activities of the 44th session of the “Sharjah International Book Fair” will begin tomorrow and continue until November 16 at the “Sharjah Expo Center” under the slogan “Between You and the Book.”

This year’s edition brings together more than 2,350 publishing houses, including 1,224 Arab publishing houses and 1,126 foreign publishing houses, presenting millions of books and publications in various languages ​​of the world, and hosting more than 250 creators, writers, and thinkers from 66 Arab and foreign countries presenting more than 1,200 cultural, creative, and artistic events.

This year, the exhibition celebrates Greece as a guest of honor in honor of one of the most ancient cultures in the world and its contribution to enriching global civilization. It hosts 58 Greek publishers and cultural institutions, displaying 600 titles in Greek and other languages, along with more than 70 Greek figures, including the most prominent writers, poets, translators, painters, academics, musicians and librarians.

Greece participates in the exhibition with a special national pavilion that hosts an exhibition entitled “Greek Literature: The Long Journey” and sheds light on the contribution of Greek writers, poets, thinkers and philosophers in shaping the national identity of Greece and their influence on the global cultural and literary scene.

During its participation, Greece will present a traveling theatrical show, a theatrical musical performance inspired by Greek poetry, a package of interactive workshops, and joint sessions between Greek and Emirati writers, publishers, and translators, in addition to recipes from Greek cuisine hosted by the “Culinary Corner.”

The exhibition celebrates the Egyptian writer and playwright Mohamed Salmawi, “Cultural Personality of the Year” for the 44th session, in recognition of his literary career spanning more than five decades and his distinguished contributions to theatre, novels, and Arab cultural work. He is considered one of the most prominent literary voices in Egypt and the Arab world, and his literary creativity and unique theatrical and novel writings constitute a milestone in contemporary Arab literature, in addition to his influential role in supporting the causes of Arab intellectuals and advancing the Arab cultural scene.

The exhibition will host international star Will Smith, who will meet his audience in a dialogue session on the evening of November 14 to talk about his career spanning more than three decades in the fields of writing, cinema, music and entrepreneurship, and share with the audience his vision about determination, perseverance and artistic development.

Arab stars Khaled Al-Sawy and Dhafer Al-Abidin reveal to the exhibition audience the secrets of the journey between performance and writing in a dialogue session entitled “From Acting to Writing… Artists Tell the Story,” which will be held within the “Art and Literature” program on November 8 in the celebration hall of the Expo Center Sharjah.

The exhibition hosts an elite group of Arab writers and speakers with outstanding literary achievements, including His Excellency Issa Yousef, Director General of the Sharjah Antiquities Authority, Dr. Sultan Al Amimi, President of the Emirates Writers and Writers Union, Dr. Zahi Hawass, Dr. Hamad bin Saray, the artist Ahmed Al Jasmi, Dr. Wassim Al-Sisi, the Kuwaiti writer and writer Talib Al-Rifai, the Egyptian speaker and businessman Muhammad Jawdat, and the Kuwaiti novelist Abdul Wahab Al-Rifai.

The 44th session is attended by a group of the most prominent international thinkers and writers who have influenced the contemporary cultural and intellectual scene, including Professor Carlo Rovelli, novelist Paul Lynch, Indian writer Bano Mushtaq, Nigerian writer Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Indian content creator Prajakata Kohli, British psychologist Dr. Julie Smith, writer Mira Sethi, and Lisa Dillman.

The exhibition will host the fourth session of the “Thriller and Suspense Festival” during the period from 8 to 11 November in cooperation with the “Thriller and Suspense Festival in New York” and with the participation of 13 regional and international writers and experts of crime, mystery and psychological suspense from North America, South Asia, Europe and Africa.

The festival’s guest list includes Canadian writer Jennifer Hillier, American writer Chris Pavone and his compatriot Daniel J. Miller, Scandinavian crime literature stars Ragnar Jonasson, writer Eva Björg Egisdóttir, British writer Armanta Hall, Indian writer Syed Hussain Zaidi, Pakistani writer Omar Shahid Hamid, writer Mirna Al Mahdi, and other writers who will present special sessions and workshops.

The festival presents “Murder in the Majlis”, an interactive theatrical performance about crime and mystery literature set in Sharjah and written by Bumika Jagadda, a graduate of the American University of Sharjah, and directed by Tarun Shyam.

The exhibition presents more than 1,200 events, ranging from dialogue sessions to literary readings, 300 of which are part of the cultural program, with the participation of 66 international guests from 19 countries and 62 Arab guests from 20 countries, in addition to 30 Emirati speakers who enrich the cultural scene with their experiences and creativity.

The cultural program hosts speakers from 10 countries participating for the first time: Iceland, Jamaica, Nigeria, Mali, Chad, Angola, Mozambique, Guinea, Senegal and Vietnam.

The exhibition organizes 750 workshops, including an exclusive series of pre-booked workshops aimed at expanding the creative horizons of audiences of all ages and nationalities, educating them, and enhancing their professional development, providing participants with an integrated experience in which they learn from the best experts and specialists in the world, in the fields of translation, creative writing, film and television writing, the publishing industry, and other creative and cognitive skills and arts.

As part of the cultural program, the “Poetry Café” hosts poetry evenings in 8 different languages, including Arabic, Greek, English, Russian, Urdu, Punjabi, Malayalam and Tagalog, and brings together an elite group of Arab and foreign poets, including the poet Saeed Al Mana from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the poet Hamad Al-Baridi from Qatar, the poet and translator Danae Siosio from Greece, the Canadian poet Sarah Ali in English, and Dr. Zubair Farouk, the first Emirati poet to write in Urdu.

From Russia, the Poetry Café welcomes the poets Maxim Zamchev and Mikhail Levantovsky, from Pakistan the poets Ata-ul-Haq Qasmi in Urdu, Dr. Tahir Shahir in Urdu and Hindi, Syed Suleiman Gilani in Punjabi, from India the poet Syed Ijaz al-Din Shah in Urdu and Hindi, the poet and actor Rehman Khan in Hindi, English and Urdu, along with the poet Surender Sharma in Urdu and K. Satchidanandan in Malayalam and English and from the Philippines poet Luna Sicat Cleto in Tagalog.

This year, the exhibition offers its audience a series of new cultural experiences that combine literature, art, and technology, as it presents for the first time the “Pop Up” Social Media Academy, an interactive platform that holds sessions presented by influencers and experts in the worlds of literature, media, art, and technology.

The exhibition hosts a unique experience from the United Kingdom entitled the creative “Poetry Pharmacy” store, which offers the public “poetry recipes” in Arabic and English. The exhibition also presents a podcast station and hosts a group of podcast programs such as “Asmar,” “Golan,” “Karak Podcast,” “Monday Chair,” “Imagine,” and “Arab Cast.”

The exhibition presents a program full of 35 live cooking sessions in the “Culinary Corner” with the participation of 14 international chefs representing Arab and foreign countries in an experience that combines culture, creativity and taste.

In its 44th session, the Sharjah International Book Fair enjoys strategic partnerships with a number of institutions and bodies.

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