Al-Ahmad: 50,000 titles and 237 publishing houses in the 31st Book Fair

Damascus-Sana

The 31st Book Fair will kick off next Thursday at the Assad National Library in Damascus with the participation of 237 publishing houses from Syria and Arab and foreign countries that will present 50,000 titles.

This was announced by the Minister of Culture Mohammed Al-Ahmad during a press conference held today at the ministry building to announce the program of the exhibition and the accompanying cultural events, stressing that this session is the largest exhibition so far in terms of the number of participating publishing houses.

Al-Ahmad pointed to the ministry's keenness to get the book fair in the best way and that this session is distinct from its predecessor and avoid gaps.

The Minister of Culture explained that the program of the exhibition this year is very rich and includes seminars and poetry evenings and lectures honoring a group of creators in literature in addition to the screenings of films based on international novels and an exhibition of plastic art and another rare books and manuscripts.

Al-Ahmad pointed to the existence of a joint committee representing most of the ministries of the state, in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture, set determinants and foundations that contributed to the selection process to select enlightenment books away from the ideas that contradict our society and our cultural values ​​and exclude authors who had an inciting role in the terrorist war on Syria.

The Minister of Culture did not overlook the great pressures that Syrian publishers were subjected to during the war, including the systematic campaign against our national currency, which reflected on the publisher and led to great losses, noting the insistence of publishers to participate in the book fair since his return in 2016, which received all the public support.

Al-Assad Library Director, Iyad Murshid, touched on the great efforts exerted by the joint committee to supervise exhibitions in selecting book titles, which reflects the participatory status of the success of this event and the great government support to develop and expand its horizons and improve cultural activity and achieve its objectives.

In turn, Haytham Al-Hafiz, President of the Syrian Publishers Union, thanked the Ministry of Culture for its efforts in developing the publishing industry in Syria, pointing out that the orientation in the next phase will be to transform the exhibition to be a major Arab event with distinction and to allocate a pavilion to the Syrian Publishers Union this year so as to attract young publishers and include pillars for children's activities and to read Stories and book exchange for free and for discounts of up to 80 percent.

Mays Ani