523,000 titles from 30 countries up for grabs

More than 523,000 titles from nearly 30 countries will be up for grabs at the 24th Muscat International Book Fair, to be held under the auspices of Ahmed bin Nasser al Mehrzi, Minister of Tourism, on February 20 at the Oman Exhibition and Convention Centre.

Dr Abdulmunim bin Mansour al Hasani, Minister of Information Chairman of the Muscat International Book Fair (MIBF), said the 10-day festival will also see seminars and symposiums.

“The book fair has been growing from strength to strength and has become a much sought-after festival of titles in the region. It will not just be a book fair. Instead, it will be an occasion where writers and other scholars will interact with visitors, while authors will sign and answer their readers.”

Official opening will be on February 20. Al Buraimi Governorate is the guest of honour. Intellectual, artistic and cultural programmes will be held during the festival.

The number of official participants is 48. The number of participants in the foreign book section is 40 libraries and publishing houses from the Gulf, Arab and other countries.

There are 882 direct publishing houses as against 878 in 2018. A total of 253 publishers are participating indirectly.

There has been an increase of 23,000 titles against last year, making the total to 523,000.

The total occupied area of the exhibition is 12,350 m2, including 1,129 pavilions. Additionally, halls for cultural events and expanded corners for children activities and cultural programmes have been allocated with an array of customised corners for community cultural initiatives.

“Reading habits among the children have not vanished but the medium of reading has changed. We have given due importance for online reading while allocating space for participants. Besides, there will be cultural cafes in a number of pavilions,” the minister added.

At the level of community initiatives, the minister said: “The book fair annually celebrates community initiatives and there is a team headed by Vice-chancellor of Sultan Qaboos University (SQU) for this purpose. There will be more than 20 community initiatives, and the best community initiative will be honoured at the end of the fair, based on that the winning initiative will be sponsored for one full year.”

Reading habits among the children have not vanished but the medium of reading has changed. We have given due importance for online reading while allocating space for participants DR ABDULMUNIM Minister of Information