In its 22nd edition, The Amman International Book Fair ran from September 21–30 this year and featured over 400 publishing houses from 22 countries, offering a full calendar of literary activities from a reading marathon to calligraphy classes. The Union of Jordanian Publishers, established in 1989 to elevate the standing of publishing houses in Jordan, organizes the event each year under the recurrent theme “Jerusalem: Capital of Palestine”, and marks the start of book fair season across the region. The state of Qatar was recognized as the esteemed guest of honor of the fair in a symposium attended by Dr. Khalid bin Ibrahim Al Sulaiti, the General Manager of the Katara Cultural Village of Qatar (the foundation responsible for the Katara Prize for the Arabic Novel) and historian Dr. Hind Abu Al-Shaar was recognized for her contributions as a writer and academic within Jordan’s literary landscape as this year’s ‘key personality’. 

The Amman International Book Fair is an immense organizational feat, a forum not only dedicated to the sale of books in the Arabic language but also an accessible discussion of literature’s role in Jordan historically and today. Inevitably, the topic of translation asserts itself, demanding rumination on grappling with meaning in a foreign alphabet and the challenges and opportunities implicit therein. When speaking with representatives of publishing houses of the broader region, the question of the quality of translations was ever-present and reflected in the events hosted by the fair and its partners. READ MORE…