A total of 750 publishing houses from 28 countries are participating at the 22nd edition of the Muscat International Book Fair (MIBF), which takes place from February 22 to March 4, 2017 in the Oman capital. The fair is featuring 450,000 publications, 30 per cent of which are new titles that are being displayed for the first time.
MIBF is seeing the participation of a host of intellectual and media celebrities, including Lebanese novelist Amin Maalouf, President of the Arab World Institute in Paris Jack Lang, Saudi author and journalist Turki Aldakhil, Palestinian journalist Abdul Bari Atwaan, Iraqi poet Adnan Al Sayegh, Lebanese poet Zahi Wehbe, Kuwaiti author Saadiah Mufarreh, Lebanese author Jihad Al Khazen, Tunisian singer Lutfi Bushnaq and Egyptian actor Ahmed Helmy.
Following the inauguration of its new building, MIBF 2017 is able to host an expanded event. It has three halls dedicated to cultural activities, a vast zone for its children’s programme and a number of pavilions that feature cultural cafés. This year, the fair is organising a special ceremony to honour Egyptian author and critic Yusuf Al Sharuni, one of the leading writers of Arabic short fiction.