Beirut's 67th Book Fair Brings Three Organisers Together on the Waterfront
Beirut's Arabic-language book fair is back on the waterfront for its 67th edition.
Doors opened on October 9 at Seaside Arena on Beirut's waterfront, near the port. The run is scheduled until October 18. This year three partners are behind it: the Arab Cultural Club, the Lebanese Publishers' Association and the Institut français / Francophone book fair, according to Publishing Perspectives.
Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam formally opened the fair. At the opening he stressed struggle for Lebanon's recovery through culture and dialogue, L'Orient-Le Jour reported. Lebanon's Minister of Culture is Ghassan Salamé.
The fair is the old hand of the region's publishing calendar. It was founded in 1956. The Arab Cultural Club has organised it since that first edition. The club itself dates to 1944.
Its home is now fixed. The fair has been held at Seaside Arena on the waterfront since 2004, the fair's own site says. That puts the stalls a short distance from the port, in the fair's traditional part of the city.
This edition is also about who runs the show next. The Francophone fair, meaning the French-language book fair, was held independently for 25 years until 2018 before joining the Arabic-language fair. Now the Arab Cultural Club and the Lebanese Publishers' Association have agreed to share organisation of future editions on alternating years.
A book fair is part bookshop, part trade meeting place. Publishers display new titles, sell to readers and talk business with each other. In Beirut, that public side is broad. The programme lists intellectual, political and literary seminars, daily book signings, art exhibitions and a dedicated children's programme. University, institute and school students are invited for organised visits.
The timetable is already moving. The 67th edition scheduled seminars and lectures for Monday, October 12. More sessions run through the closing weekend.
What makes this stand out is the joint working. Three different book cultures, Arabic-language, French-language and the publishers' trade body, are sharing one floor. It has run for almost 70 years. The doors stay open until October 18.
