Sharjah Int'l Book Fair: Get ready to trawl through 80,000 books in over 30 languages

UAE - More than 80,000 new titles in over 30 languages will be showcased at this year’s Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), set to kick off on November 4.

The 39th edition of the SIBF, which will run until November 14, will be a celebration of diversity and an intercultural exchange of ideas. Seventy-three nations represented by 1,024 publishers will be leading cross-cultural dialogues at SIBF 2020 under the theme ‘The world reads from Sharjah’.

Organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), The world-famous book fair will go hybrid this year. All cultural events will be held online via the ‘Sharjah Reads’ but books will be exhibited in-person. With precautionary measures in place, visitors will still get to enjoy the experience of trawling through 10,000sqm of books at Expo Centre Sharjah.

This year's SIBF will be convening publishers from around the world including 202 from Egypt; 186 from the UAE; 93 from Lebanon; 72 from Syria; 46 from KSA; 39 from the UK; 29 from the US; 13 from Italy; 12 from France; and eight from Canada.

Khoula Al Mujaini, SIBF general coordinator, said: “The participation of a large number of publishing houses amid the prevailing challenge of a pandemic is a testament to SIBF’s integral role in stepping up efforts to revitalise the book industry.

“We have adopted the highest standards of precautionary measures to ensure the safety of all our participants and visitors.”

Residents who would like to visit the Expo Centre to purchase books will need to pre-book slots on registration.sibf.com.