The 2016 Cairo International Book Fair is set to begin on January 27 and run until February 10 under the title "Culture on the Frontlines".
The book fair is symbolic of Cairo's high seat in the Arab world's publishing circle and the long held belief that it is the region's historical producer of knowledge, captured in the phrase "books are written in Cairo, published in Beirut and read in Baghdad."
Held at the Cairo International Convention Center in Nasr City and organized by the General Egyptian Book Organization, the book fair is an annual event that brings book publishers and literary enthusiasts to Cairo every January.
Cairo's oldest book fair
This year's 47th edition comes after a wave of political and social unrest in Egypt since the January 25 revolution in 2011 and growing competition from other book fairs held in the Gulf region, such as the Sharjah International Book Fair and the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair.
This year's guest of honor will be Bahrain, who will "present a variety of its cultural and artistic activities along with with movies and documentaries about its history," according to State Information Services. Egyptian writer Gamal al-Ghitani, who passed away in October 2015, will be honored as Person of the Year.
According to State Information Services, 24 countries will participate in this year's book fair along with 850 publishers, including 50 foreign, 250 Arab and 550 Egyptian publishers.
Despite being the region's oldest and most well-known book fair, participation has been on the decline since 2004, when it hosted over 3,000 publishers. Participation has increased steadily over the past decade, but the fair was canceled in 2011 due to country wide protests seeking the ouster of former President Hosni Mubarak.
Aside from presenting a platform for publishers and authors to promote their work, the fair has also acted as a forum for debate and protest during its history, as it continues to attract a number of activists, intellectuals and influential writers. Due to its influence, the fair has seen its share of crackdowns and censorship.
According to Cairo Book Shop, several books have been pulled from the shelves at the book fair due to their sensitive content, including books by renowned authors Mohamed Choukri, Haydar Haydar and Elias Khoury.
In 2000, violence erupted after a number of Islamists gathered to protest books they deemed offensive to Islam, leading to the arrest of 75 protesters. The 2005 book fair saw the removal of a book entitled "Socialists' Route to Change: A Militant Socialist Vision for Change in Egypt" from the shelves, as well as the arrest of several journalists charged with "disseminating false information".
This year's book fair comes on the heels of a quiet fifth anniversary of the 2011 revolution. For the second year in a row, the fair's starting date was changed in order to avoid any potential protests.
