31st Book Fair Opens Tomorrow with the Participation of 237 Publishing Houses
DAMASCUS, (ST)- With the participation of 237 publishing houses from Syria and other Arab and foreign countries, the 31st Book Fair kicks off in Damascus on Thursday under the patronage of President Bashar Al-Assad.
In a press conference on Tuesday, Culture Minister Mohammad al-Ahmad said that the 31st Book Fair, held under the title “The Book Builds the Mind”, will be the biggest in terms of the number of participating publishing houses, adding that it will include 50 thousand titles.
He clarified that the program on the sidelines of the 31st Book Fair will be very rich, as it will include cultural symposiums, poetry evenings, lectures, book signing ceremonies, honoring a number of intellectuals, cinema shows, a fine arts exhibition and a rare book and manuscripts exhibition.
Elsewhere in the conference, the minister talked about the pressure to which the Syrian publishers have been exposed during the war, including the systematic campaign against the Syrian currency. He affirmed that this pressure has caused huge loss to the publishers who despite these losses have insisted to take part in the Book Fair since it was re-launched in 2016.
On his part, Head of the Syrian Publishers’ Union, Haitham al-Hafez said that there is a plan to turn the fair into a huge Arab event, pointing out that a special stand will be dedicated for the Syrian Publishers Union to attract young publishers.
Hamda Mustafa