Moroccan Minister of Youth, Culture, and Communication Mohamed Mehdi Bensaid announced the program of the 27th edition of the International Book and Publishing Fair (SIEL) in Rabat between June 3 and 12.
The 2021 edition of the event was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s health restrictions.
The event was launched in 1989 at the initiative of the then Minister of Culture, Mohamed bin Issa. It is usually held in Casablanca and hosted by the Office des Foires et Expositions de Casablanca (OFEC), but it was refitted as a field hospital for coronavirus patients.
African literature has been chosen as the guest of honor of this edition, and the fair will discuss its reality and fate. Several African intellectuals will attend the event to discuss African literature and ideology.
The event will be organized on about 20,000 square meters, with the participation of 712 exhibitors representing 40 countries.
Bensaid said the exhibition is held in the heart of Rabat, the cultural capital of Morocco, which constitutes, with its pioneering cultural institutions, the country's cultural hub.
The 27th edition will honor Rabat as the capital of African and Islamic culture.
Over 100,000 books will be on display with more than two million copies.
Literature books account for the most significant percentage of this edition, amounting to 30 percent, followed by social science books with 22 percent, and children’s books with 16 percent, while science books are the least with about two percent.
It will include 111 Moroccan exhibitors, 55 Egyptians, 22 Lebanese, ten Jordanian, and 39 countries participating, with one exhibitor each.
On the sidelines of the exhibition, visitors will meet intellectuals, researchers, writers, and professionals from Morocco and abroad.
The event will award the Ibn Battuta Prize for Travel Literature and the National Reading Award.
