Arab publishing orgs pull out of Frankfurt
The Arab Publishers’ Association, the Emirates Publishers Association, the Sharjah Book Authority and the PublisHer network have withdrawn from the Frankfurt Book Fair (FBF), following the fair’s statement at the outbreak of the Israel–Gaza war, reports Publishers Weekly.
‘Given the recent announcement by the organisers of the Frankfurt Book Fair, we have decided to withdraw our participation this year,’ the Sharjah Book Authority said in a statement. ‘We champion the role of culture and books to encourage dialogue and understanding between people. We believe that this role is more important than ever.’
Sharjah Book Authority chair and founder of the PublisHer network Bodour Al Qasimi said the decision to pull out from the fair was ‘due to the FBF’s choice to cancel the voice of an entire demographic by fully supporting Israel, which effectively leaves no space for dialogue and cultural exchange’.
In a statement last week, FBF director Juergen Boos said the fair ‘stands with complete solidarity on the side of Israel’, noting it had spontaneously decided to give Israeli and Jewish voices ‘additional time on our stages’, including a new event, ‘Out of Concern for Israel’, to take place in the Frankfurt Pavilion on the first day of the fair.
In response to the decisions by the organisations to withdraw from the fair, Boos said in a statement to Publishing Perspectives: ‘We are sad to see that some exhibitors from the Arab region withdrew their participation in this year’s fair. To dispel false reports and misunderstandings that may have arisen in the past days: millions of innocent people in Israel and in Palestine are affected by this war, and our sympathy goes out to all of them. We truly hope that ways can be found to bring them out of this violence.’
Earlier this week, FBF announced it would no longer host a ceremony for Palestinian author Adania Shibli, who was to be presented the LiBeraturpreis for her novel Minor Detail (trans by Elisabeth Jacquett, New Directions), a historical novel about the rape and murder of a Palestinian girl during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.
The award is presented by Litprom, which was founded in 1980 to promote literature from Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Arab world by journalists, publishers, translators, church employees, development aid organisations and the Frankfurt Book Fair. ‘In light of the terror against Israel, Litprom is looking for a suitable format and setting for the event after the book fair,’ said Boos, noting that Litprom had made the decision as it was ‘solely responsible for awarding the prize’.
In response, hundreds of authors, including Abdulrazak Gurnah, Ian McEwan, Mazaa Mengiste, Colm Toibin and Olga Tokarczuk have signed an open letter accusing the fair of ‘shutting down’ Palestinian voices by cancelling the awards ceremony, writing that it has ‘a responsibility to be creating spaces for Palestinian writers to share their thoughts, feelings, reflections on literature through these terrible, cruel times, not shutting them down.’
Category: International news
