By Sofia Bochoidze
This year, the world’s largest book fair for buying and selling copyrights received 2.17 million visitors from 112 countries. As the Chairman of Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) stated in his interview with us, the fair continues to grow each year, and 2022 was truly proof of it.
The Sharjah International Book Fair is an annual 12-day cultural extravaganza that ran this year under the theme “Spread the Word!” As the SBA stated at this year’s closing event, “Words have their own power, a power that remains no matter how different the time is. Now, our time together at the book fair may have ended, but the words we took with us will last forever”.
GEORGIA TODAY, together with other leading media representatives from around the world, had the privilege to attend and cover SIBF 2022. It is noteworthy, that the fair is a cultural destination for many people, but especially for young students. SIBF, with its vision of building new generations of readers, gives a unique opportunity for youngsters to meet their favorite writers, artists, and influencers, providing their libraries with new Arabic and foreign publications.
Every single activity during the fair sought to connect people, bring like-minded communities together, discover something and someone new, and spread the word, spread positive vibes, and spread different aspects of different cultures in one place – in Sharjah. Poetry evenings, masterclasses for adults and kids, and diverse activities in arts, music, and cultural programs were designed to bring Sharjah’s cultural campaign “if you’re into something, you’re into a book” to the world.
GEORGIA TODAY visited several participants’ stands and interviewed them, together with the visitors. Here are some of the highlights from SIBF 2022:
Jashanmal Books (Iraq)
Jashanmal’s story starts in 1919, when Rao Saheb Jashanmal opened the first Jashanmal store in Iraq, expanding soon throughout the GCC. They have books from all categories, nearly 14k+ titles from 350+ publishers, assorted stationery, academic books, notebooks, and diaries as per the requirements. Jashanmal Books has a wide spectrum of collections and boasts a well experienced and diverse team. Jashanmal collaborates with top publishers, such as Lonely Planet, Cambridge University Press, Penguin, Random House, Harper Collins, Bloomsbury, Macmillan, and many more.
White Star (Italy)
As SIBF 2022 celebrated Italy as its Guest of Honor, we visited the Italian pavilion and spoke with Nicolo Minetti Corner, foreign rights of White Star. White Star was founded in 1984. In just a few years, it became one of the most renowned publishing houses in illustrated books on both national and global scales. Today, it boasts a catalogue of over 900 titles for both children and adults. White Star is directly distributed in six countries (Italy, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada) under different brands, and the books are translated into more than 30 languages. They work with the most important publishers abroad, building up co-editions every year and selling rights worldwide. We asked Nicolo why his company participated in this fair, and he answered: “For us, it is most important to meet different cultures, to find solutions for how to grow up together. We are, of course, happy to find lots of publishers interested in our products, we have lots of educational books that suit this country very well.”
Peter Harrington (UK)
It was a great pleasure to meet with the team of Peter Harrington – Mr. John Casey and Ms. Cecilie Gasseholm. Peter Harrington issued their first catalogue from a stall at Chelsea Antiques Market on King’s Road in 1969, and that’s when their business kicked off. In 1971, Peter joined forces with his brother Adrian and formed Harrington Bros. They proved a successful team, selling old and rare books from what claimed to be the world’s first antique market. Over the 1970s, they expanded, and by the early 1990s, the brothers owned the whole market, which at its peak housed more than a hundred stallholders.
Pom joined Harrington Bros. in 1994, immediately after leaving school, and was one of only three employees when the antique market was sold in 1997. Pom and his father went on to form Peter Harrington Rare Books, operating from new premises at 100 Fulham Road. Sadly, Peter passed away in 2003, but the business that still bears his name was taken on by Pom and, under his ownership, has grown to employ more than 60 team members. With a passion for the rare books trade, Pom has taken an active role in the Antiquarian Books Association – the senior trade body for book dealers in the UK – and was elected President in 2021, bringing his experience of over 30 years in the trade to the role. He is also the Chairman of Firsts, London’s Rare Book Fair, a keystone event in the annual calendar of UK book fairs.
A collector himself, Pom Harrington firmly believes that rare book collecting should be fun and personal. He credits the “instinctual approach to rare book buying” he believes he inherited from his father for driving much of his book-buying habits. “My advice to any aspiring collector would be to buy the best copy you can afford of a book you love. Chances are, someone else will love it too”.
GT spoke with Peter Harrington’s team.
“It’s a great place to meet people who are interested in books, a great opportunity to let them learn about us,” they said. “We have two shops in the UK, and we buy and sell books from all around the world. We deal with rare books. The first edition of Harry Potter is here, as are very rare Arabic manuscripts. We have an online shop too, so you can buy our books anywhere in the world.”
We asked them about the value of physical books these days, when everything is digitalized in the modern world, to which they answered, “Not everything is digitalized, it is much more expensive and is difficult to do properly. Libraries require a lot of money to digitalize everything.”
Kalimat Foundation
Another great initiative was represented at the fair, Kalimat Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded under the patronage of Sheikha Bodour Bint Sultan Al Qasimi, to uphold children’s rights to read and access books. It serves vulnerable and visually disabled children by equipping and empowering them with knowledge and ideas in books, through a variety of accessible formats, so as to ease social integration and build better prospects in learning and better opportunities in adulthood.
The Book Hut
A participant in all the book fairs, especially in GCC, this was the 5th time The Book Hut joined in at SIBF. They are specialized in kids’ books, importing most of their books from the UK and the US. Overall, every year they do very well. “Sharjah book fair is a great supporter, they do lots of good advertising and are flexible for cooperation, very friendly, and always supportive.”
Zoom Books UAE
Zoom Books are distributors, selling books for school libraries. “As this fair is the biggest book fair in UAE, all the companies should participate,” their representative told us.
More Ideas General Trading (Byjus learning app)
“We are a learning app and we encourage the children to learn in a different manner, with cartoon characters teaching them in a different manner. Now we are focusing on the UAE, with headquarters in India. The company was founded in 2016. Our mission is to create value – each day, every day – as we build an equal and accessible learning environment for all.”
The BYJU’S mission is to redefine how the world learns through relentless effort and innovation, breaking the barriers to quality education and helping to build a learning ecosystem that will create leaders of tomorrow.
GT also had the pleasure to meet the representatives of the French institute, Sharjah University, the Regional Center for EDI planning, and many others, who contribute greatly to the development of the modern education system and who work tirelessly to introduce modern trends and innovations to the industry.
This year, SIBF was attractive in its numerous activities, masterclasses, and meetings with amazing authors. “A book is not a work of solitude or a singular effort, it is a process of collaboration” – that’s what Lisa Gardner, American writer, and novelist, told us during her session at the Sharjah International Book Fair.
And in the end, here is a very short, yet very emotional goodbye from the amazing team of SIBF: “Words conquer time. Our time at the book fair may have come to an end, but the words we take with us will stay forever! See you next year!”
