This year, Abu Dhabi International Book Fair’s (ADIBF) 31st edition will host over 1100 publishers from around 80 nations, as announced by the Abu Dhabi Arabic Language Centre (ALC).
There will be over 450 various cultural and knowledge-centred events, seminars, and interactive activities during the one-week-long fair initiating on May 23 at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec).
Moreover, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will also be a part of the fair and will host a series of panel discussions and seminars featuring Nobel laureates, eminent authors, critics and poets.
Dr Ali bin Tamim, chairman of ALC, part of the Department of Culture and Tourism – Abu Dhabi, stated the fair had been a “turning point” for the local cultural sector.
“For more than thirty years, the Fair offered a prominent platform to introduce the world to our Arab and Emirati culture and society,” he further stated.
The director of the Frankfurt International Book Fair, Juergen Boos, described ADIBF as a heavy weight in the industry of publishing.
Boos said, “Hosting Germany as a guest of honour embodies the strong cultural ties between the UAE and Germany.” Further, he added that Germany would partake in over 40 events, leading thinkers and writers in daily workshops dedicated to schools and children.
During the panel discussions and seminars, the Louvre Abu Dhabi will host prominent names like Syrian poet as well as critic Adonis; Guido Imbens, who was awarded one half of the 2021 Nobel Prize for Economics; Prof. Roger Allen, a leading Western investigator in modern Arabic literature; Prof. Homi K. Bhabha, tutor of the humanities and thought leader on colonial and post-colonial theory, Harvard University; Prof. Muhsin J. Al Musawi, professor of Arabic as well as comparative literature at Columbia University in New York; and Brent Weeks, the New York Times bestselling writer of eight fantasy novels, along with many world-famous authors, thinkers and cultural figures.