Two weeks filled with Norwegian literature in Cairo - Norway Guest of Honour at the world’s largest Arabic book fair
From 24 January to 6 February 2024, Norway was a Guest of Honour at the Cairo International Book Fair. The fair, which is primarily a public event, had close to 5 million visitors and the press attention surrounding the Norwegian authors in the program was enormous. A total of 20 authors, translators and professionals from Norway participated. The Norwegian Guest of Honour program comprised 70 events, and was opened by HRH Crown Princess Mette-Marit.
The book fair is a cultural meeting place with a broad programme of authors and book sales for the public, as well as a extensive conference programme targeting the trade audience.
Egypt has a very young population and there is a considerable need for good books for children and young people. Norway has a lot to offer in this area. NORLA wanted to emphasize the importance of creating a desire to read in children and young people, and we invited the Norwegian Children’s Book Institute (NBI) as partner in the project. With NBI on the team, NORLA had the opportunity to expand the programme during the fair. NBI prepared a broad professional as well as a large reading programme from Norwegian and Sámi literature targeting children and young people. The reading programme was particularly well received by the young book fair audience.
In addition, MUNCH was a partner that contributed to increasing knowledge about Edvard Munch, including visualization of his works at the Norwegian stand. Translator Sherin A. Wahab was engaged by NORLA as project consultant for the Guest of Honour project. The Norwegian Embassy in Cairo also assisted in the project.
The venture as a Guest of Honour in Egypt has given NORLA the opportunity to develop a network in a market where Norwegian literature has great potential. We have facilitated better access to translators from Norwegian into Arabic, and have been able to contribute to exchange and dialogue between the Arabic and Norwegian literary worlds. This was particularly evident during audience events with the Norwegian writers, who in most of the programme posts were coupled with an Arabic writer.
We look forward to following up this venture by further developing contact with Egyptian publishers. We are making it possible for more authors to be introduced to an Arabic-speaking audience at future events and for Egyptian authors to be able to meet audiences in Norway, including an Arabic event in Oslo in 2025.
From left: Anette Garpestad (Cappelen Damm Agency), Marit Alette Utsi (Davvi Girji), Nourhan Rashad (Al Dar Al Masriah Al Lubnaniah Publishing), Evy Tillman (Oslo Literary Agency), Fatimah Abbas (Publishing Consultant), and Oliver Møystad (NORLA). Photo: Ahmed Raafat.
Photo: Ahmed Raamat.
Read more
You can find the entire Norwegian Guest of Honour programme here.
Read more about the participants from Norway and Egypt, and also our partners, here.
The information is also available in Arabic.
