The 53rd Cairo International Book Fair will start in the Egyptian capital on January 26 and close on February 7, 2022.
Under the title ‘Egypt’s Identity – Culture & the Question of the Future,’ Nearly 1063 Egyptian, Arab, and foreign publishers from around 51 countries are participating in the book fair.
Every year, one country is chosen as the main guest, and its authors and famous works are singled out by the fair. Greece has been chosen this year.
The fair will be launched by Egypt’s Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly and will take place at Cairo’s largest exhibition hall, the 40,000-square-metre Egypt International Exhibition Centre.
Two prominent writers are chosen each year as the “personalities” of the fair, one for each section.
This year, the Egyptian short story virtuoso Yahya Haqqi (1905-1992) is the adult edition’s honouree. Haqqi will be projected through hologram technology in one of the interactive exhibits, marking the first use of this kind of technology at the festival.
Meanwhile, Egyptian author Abdel Tawab Youssef will be the children’s personality and one of his short stories has been adapted into a film that will be shown using virtual reality.
In addition to a number of prizes awarded for various honours each year, the event will mark the launch of a new prize, one awarded to the best participating publisher. The cash total of the festival’s prizes has been increased from EGP 10,000 ($636) to EGP 40,000.
This year, a digitized online sale of books is being launched through the exhibition’s digital platform that was made available during the 52nd edition of the book fair. Delivery services all over Egypt will be made available in cooperation with the Ministry of Communications represented by the Egyptian Post.