First Alexandria International Book Fair
Mrs Suzanne Mubarak, Head of the Board of Trustees
and Dr Ismail Serageldin, Director General of the Bibliotheca Alexandrina
opened the First Alexandria International Book Fair, which ran from
24 July to 6 August 2002 in Alexandria, Egypt.
The Book Fair was attended by over 200 publishing
and printing houses, from Italy, France, Kuwait, Britain, Saudi Arabia,
Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, United Arab Emirates, Iraq and Libya, as well
as Egypt. The celebrations of the Book Fair started with the honouring
of Dr Samir Sarhan, Head of the Egyptian General Book Authority, in
recognition of his role in enriching the cultural and publishing sector
in Egypt and the Arab world, as well as of the efforts he has exerted
over the past years in various book development activities. Engineer
Ibrahim El Moalem, a renowned publisher in the Arab world and Head of
the Arab Publishers Union, was also honoured for his support to the
Book Fair, and in recognition of his contributions in activating the
Egyptian Publishers Union and the Arab Publishers Union.
Several exhibitions were held during fair. The
best works of Sayed Darweesh, the famous Egyptian musician who lived
during the first quarter of the 20th century, were presented by Khaled
Shams. Rare documents, papyruses and manuscripts from the National Libraries
and Archives were also showcased to the public. Other activities of
the fair, which emphasized electronic publishing, included poetry readings
centred around the theme of the nine muses, book signings, and tours
around the newly reconstructed Alexandria Library. [BPN no 31, 2002,
p. 14.]
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