The Emirate of Sharjah welcomes today, Wednesday, November 4, 2026, a prominent international cultural event with the launch of the 45th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair at Expo Centre Sharjah, amid wide participation from publishing houses, cultural institutions, writers, and intellectuals, in a knowledge-driven event running until the 15th of this month.
The new edition is held under the slogan "It Begins with a Story", with the participation of 3,212 publishers and exhibitors representing 126 countries, carrying nearly 1.7 million titles across various fields of thought, literature, science, and knowledge, reflecting the expanding international presence of this annual cultural milestone.
The fair offers a program featuring approximately 1,500 cultural, creative, and artistic events, with the participation of 106 guests from 25 countries, including literary gatherings, intellectual symposiums, author dialogues, and interactive workshops, alongside special programs for children and youth.
The Sultanate of Oman is the Guest of Honour for the 45th edition, through a cultural and artistic participation showcasing features of its civilizational heritage and contemporary literary experiences, thereby strengthening bridges of cultural cooperation between the two countries and giving visitors an opportunity to discover the diversity of the Omani creative scene.
The edition also witnesses the honoring of the Moroccan critic and academic researcher Dr. Said Yaqtine as the Cultural Personality of the Year, in appreciation of his scholarly contributions to Arab narrative studies and literary criticism, and his research that has helped renew methods of reading texts and their relationship to digital transformations.
Furthermore, the fair dedicates spaces for interactive experiences, including a corner allowing visitors to transform their personal stories into poetic texts, in an initiative seeking to make the public a participant in the creative process rather than a mere recipient of the cultural product.
This diverse international presence reaffirms the prominent position Sharjah has attained in the Arab and global publishing and cultural industry, through continuous investment in knowledge, encouragement of reading, and support for publishers and authors, making its annual fair a platform for civilizational communication, exchange of ideas, and cross-border cultural partnerships.
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