Cairo – Mubasher: The 49th Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), the largest and oldest book fair in the Arab world, will be inaugurated on 26 January in Cairo, Nasr City to welcome bookworms until 10 February.
Algeria is the CIBF’s guest of honour this year, while the fair’ Person of the Year is the author Abdel Rahman Al-Sharkawi, according to the official organizer of the fair.
“The late veteran writer [Al-Sharakawi] was chosen to be the person of the year because he participated in the renewal of religious discourse, in addition to being a renowned theatrical writer,” head of the Egyptian General Authority for Books Haitham Al-Hag said.
Almost 848 publishers from 27 countries, including 481 Egyptian, 367 Arab, 10 international, and two African publishers will be participating in CIBF 2018.
In 2017, the fair embraced about 670 publishers, including 451 Egyptian, 200 Arab, 13 international, and six from African countries.
The fair, held each year in Cairo’s Nasr city, has not announced its annual cultural and artistic programme yet.
The CIBF will be hosting several activities for the first time, such as establishing theaters, cinema halls, and fine arts halls, the organizer said.
