Italian literary talents to take center stage at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2020

Abu Dhabi, 04 November 2020 – Italy’s leading literary talents will be celebrated at the Sharjah In-ternational Book Fair 2020 as the Italian Trade Agency (ITA), in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy to the UAE and the Italian Cultural Institute, hosts a dedicated pavilion to the nation's book in-dustry.

The 39th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair, SIBF, organized by the Sharjah Book Au-thority, SBA, will be held under the theme ‘The World Reads from Sharjah’ under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and will take place from November 4 to 14, at the Sharjah Expo Centre https://www.sibf.com.

Italy's pavilion will host 7 editors exhibiting books related to several literary genres, from texts related to motherhood and early childhood, to illustrative and creative stories: CarthusiaEdizioni, Gallucci editore, La Coccinella, Il Leone Verde, White Star Publishers, Moon SRL, and Silvia Vassena @ Mi-lano. Visitors will also find the books published by Einaudi, particularly the works of two Italian writers virtually present at the Fair, Carlo Lucarelli and Ernesto Franco.Also in virtual version, the Italian Pavilion will host Elisabetta Dami, creator of the world-famous anthropomorphic mouse Geronimo Stilton, who works as journalist and editor for the fictional newspaper The Rodent's Gazette.

His Excellency Nicola Lener, Ambassador of Italy to the UAE, said: “Also through this year's Book Fair, such a difficult year because of the pandemic, Sharjah continues to show great cultural liveliness. The Fair is yet another opportunity to confirm the excellent and long-standing cultural rela-tions between Italy and the UAE, also in the literary and editorial sectors. Italy indeed believes that literature is an extraordinary enabler of dialogue and connectivity between countries and peoples of all ages, as confirmed by the success of an universally-renowned character of Geronimo Stilton, which will be present also in this edition of the Fair through its author, Ms. Elisabetta Dami.

More generally, Italy’s participation in the SIBF testifies our commitment to further develop the Italian cultural footprint in the UAE, also thanks to the recent opening of the Italian Cultural Institute in Abu Dhabi (the first in the GCC area), the outstanding cultural programme that we are preparing for Ita-ly’s participation in EXPO2020 Dubai and the future opening of the first Italian international school in the UAE, to be based in Abu Dhabi.

I am therefore very grateful to the Dubai Office of the Italian Trade Commission and to the Italian Cultural Institute in Abu Dhabi for ensuring a qualified participation of Italian authors and editors in the SIBF in the current circumstances.”

We thank His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah - a leader at the forefront of cultural and social development - for hosting us at this festival; an event which will demonstrate the global longevity and importance of publishing and books, especially during pandemic times.”

Amedeo Scarpa, Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE: “This year we do host 7 main Italian literature publishers in our pavilion. Our aim, as trade promotion organization, is to increase also the opportunities for bilateral economic cooperation with Emirati counterparts. As a matter of fact, during the 11 days of the fair we will calendar b2b phygital meetings between Emirati editors and profes-sionals hosted in presence in our Pavilion and Italian counterparts web-connected from Italy, inter-ested in selling their copyrights abroad. The meetings will be hosted on the new ITA dedicated plat-form SMART365.This is our concrete way to boost a sector that is recovering from the pandemic crisis”.

“The recovery of the Italian publishing market continued betweenJuly and September across both online and physical sales of books, showing a strengthening post-lockdown surge throughout the nation’s publishing industry” dr. Scarpa added. “This upbeat news showed that publishers had nar-rowed their book business’ losses in the trade sector from 20 percent in April to 7 percent as of the end of September, in year-to-year comparisons. To book a virtual meetings with the Italian compa-nies just click: https://sharjah.eventidigitali-ice.it “

Ida Zilio-Grandi, Director of the Italian Cultural Institute Abu Dhabi, added: “The United Arab Emirates, as well as Italy, have made themselves known for their emphasis on promoting culture, and for their openness to the cultures of the world. And both show an appreciation for tradition as well as for creativity and innovation. This is why I firmly I believe that the two nations have a lot to offer each other and also internationally.”

“Both Italy and the UAE are hubs in a multi-faceted creative scene and our participation at the Shar-jah International Book Fair 2020 further sets the template for greater collaborations between our two nations, for developing creative talent, and in turn promoting that talent to the world.”

Book a virtual meeting with the Italian companies by clicking https://sharjah.eventidigitali-ice.it.