Iraq International Book Fair to Host 350 Publishing Houses

The third edition of the Iraq International Book Fair is set to kick off in Baghdad next month.
The third edition of the Iraq International Book Fair is set to kick off in Baghdad next month.
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Iraq International Book Fair to Host 350 Publishing Houses

The third edition of the Iraq International Book Fair is set to kick off in Baghdad next month.
The third edition of the Iraq International Book Fair is set to kick off in Baghdad next month.

The third edition of the Iraq International Book Fair is set to kick off in Baghdad next month. Running from December 7 to 17, the event is organized by Al-Mada for Media Culture & Arts, a media and cultural foundation that moved from Damascus to Baghdad after 2003 

Over 350 Iraqi and Arabic publishing houses from 20 countries will take in the event. Given the exceptional role it plays among the Iraqi and Arabic publishing houses, Dar Al Mada will boast the largest pavilion to display its massive, annual productions.   

This year’s edition has been named after Hadi al-Alawi (1932-1998), an Iraqi, Islamic intellect, historian, and linguist.  

According to the Ihab Al-Qaisi, director of the book fair, the nomination after Alawi has been made for “the role he played over 50 years in studying the Islamic and Arabic modern, scientific renaissance, the unique ideas he had about the Orient, and his deep knowledge of the Chinese and Islamic civilizations.” 

Qaisi said that panels hosting experts to speak about Alawi and his creative journey will be held every day during the book fair. In addition, a bust of the late Iraqi intellect will be unveiled during the event.  

For this year’s edition, Dar Al Mada reprinted all Alawi’s works in a step that aims at introducing a new generation to his works.   

The fair is set to host a number of intellectual and cultural sessions with the participation of thinkers and writers from Iraq and other Arab countries. It will also host poetry readings, book signings, art exhibits and seminars exploring the political movement in Iraq. 

Iraqi cultural and artistic institutions, including the Iraqi Scientific Academy, the Union of Iraqi Writers, and the House of Cultural Affairs, will participate in the fair. 



Fading Literature: Delhi's Famed Urdu Bazaar on Last Legs

A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP
A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP
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Fading Literature: Delhi's Famed Urdu Bazaar on Last Legs

A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP
A student sits beneath packed shelves at the Hazrat Shah Waliullah public library - AFP

In the bustling heart of Old Delhi, Indian bookseller Mohammed Mahfooz Alam sits forlorn in his quiet store, among the last few selling literature in a language beloved by poets for centuries.

Urdu, spoken by many millions today, has a rich past that reflects how cultures melded to forge India's complex history.

But its literature has been subsumed by the cultural domination of Hindi, struggling against false perceptions that its elegant Perso-Arabic script makes it a foreign import and a language of Muslims in the Hindu-majority nation.

"There was a time when, in a year, we would see 100 books being published," said 52-year-old Alam, lamenting the loss of the language and its readership.
The narrow streets of Urdu Bazaar, in the shadow of the 400-year-old Jama Masjid mosque, were once the core of the city's Urdu literary community, a center of printing, publishing and writing.

Today, streets once crowded with Urdu bookstores abuzz with scholars debating literature are now thick with the aroma of sizzling kebabs from the restaurants that have replaced them.

Only half a dozen bookstores are left.

"Now, there are no takers," Alam said, waving at the streets outside. "It is now a food market."

- Dying 'day by day' -

Urdu, one of the 22 languages enshrined under India's constitution, is the mother tongue of at least 50 million people in the world's most populous country. Millions more speak it, as well as in neighbouring Pakistan.

But while Urdu is largely understood by speakers of India's most popular language Hindi, their scripts are entirely different.

Alam says he can see Urdu literature dying "day by day".

The Maktaba Jamia bookshop he manages opened a century ago. Alam took over its running this year driven by his love for the language.

"I have been sitting since morning, and barely four people have come," he said gloomily. "And even those were college or school-going children who want their study books."

Urdu, sharing Hindi's roots and mingled with words from Persian and Arabic, emerged as a hybrid speech between those who came to India through trade and conquest -- and the people they settled down amongst.

But Urdu has faced challenges in being viewed as connected to Islamic culture, a popular perception that has grown since the Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of Prime Minister Narendra Modi took power in 2014.

- 'Feel the beauty' -

For centuries, Urdu was a key language of governance.

Sellers first set up stores in the Urdu Bazaar in the 1920s, selling stacks of books from literature to religion, politics and history -- as well as texts in Arabic and Persian.

By the 1980s, more lucrative fast-food restaurants slowly moved in, but the trade dropped dramatically in the past decade, with more than a dozen bookshops shutting down.

"With the advent of the internet, everything became easily available on the mobile phone," said Sikander Mirza Changezi, who co-founded a library to promote Urdu in Old Delhi in 1993.

"People started thinking buying books is useless, and this hit the income of booksellers and publishers, and they switched to other businesses."

The Hazrat Shah Waliullah Public Library, which Changezi helped create, houses thousands of books including rare manuscripts and dictionaries.

It is aimed at promoting the Urdu language.

Student Adeeba Tanveer, 27, who has a masters degree in Urdu, said the library provided a space for those wanting to learn.

"The love for Urdu is slowly coming back," Tanveer told AFP, adding that her non-Muslim friends were also keen to learn.

"It is such a beautiful language," she said. "You feel the beauty when you speak it."