Italian Literary Talents to Take Center Stage at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2020

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 relations 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 Italy’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 phygitalmeetings between Emirati editors and professionals hosted in presence in our Pavilion and Italian counterparts web-connected from Italy, interested in selling their copyrights abroad. The meetings will be hosted on the new ITA dedicated platform 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 between July 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 narrowed 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 companies just click: https://sharjah.eventidigitali-ice.it ."