RIYADH: The annual Riyadh International Book Fair opens on March 1 with even larger crowds than usual expected following the recently announced suspension of the Cairo Book Fair, regarded by the Arab Thought Foundation as the most prestigious in the Arab World. Observers say that revenues from the fair could exceed SR25 million, despite rent spent for publishers being raised by ten percent on last year's event. It is expected that 950 publishers from the Arab World and beyond will take part, and the Ministry of Culture and Information is also expected to announce a prize in the name of the fair for best publisher and book following words to that effect by Minister Abdul Aziz Khoja at last year's event. The ministry this year has granted four book signing platforms, and organizers have set three conditions: that the book or the author be recently published, allowing no old publications to be signed; that permission for the signing be obtained by the relevant committee, and that the book be acceptable to the Ministry of Culture and Information. The fair will be open 12 hours a day from 10 A.M., with three days for males only. Cultural activities will take place in the evening after Maghreb and Isha prayers, with special family and children's programs held under the heading “A Generation that Reads, for an Ummah that Reads”. Among the fair's activities are an open session with the Minister of Culture and Information, National Dialogue workshops, and displays from King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology. The book fair's guest this year is India, and a range of literary figures and personalities from India have been invited to give lectures, as organizers seek to “promote cultural contact between India and the Kingdom”.
