Rabat- with a child’s game of fresh ink and rustling on the part, the 30th edition of the International Book and Publishing Fair (Siel) opened its doors in Rabat today and started a ten-day celebration with books, ideas and imagination.
The atmosphere? Book, sums and promising.
From the moment the gates opened, the readers flooded the corridors and leafed through titles in Arabic, Amazigh, French, English and much more.
More than 775 Exhibitor From 51 countries take part in this pioneering edition, in which Rabat is in the heart of the global literary exchange. With over 100,000 titles, this year’s Siel not only promises the amount, but also provides authenticity, depth and discovery.
The event, which was organized in addition to the Rabat-Sale-Kénitra region and the city of Rabat by the Morocco Ministry of Youth, Culture and Communication, develops as part of the broader efforts to position the capital as a cultural beacon, a goal that is gained in dynamics because Rabat is preparing to become the UNESCO world book in 2026.
The topic of the fair this year is about memory, literary, historical and collective. Tribute throughout the program Honor Moroccan icons such as Driss Chraïbi, Abdellatif Laabi and Leila Abouzeideid, among other things, whose words continue to repeat over generations.
Morocco has long ended up as a literary port, its cities, which throws a spell on some of the best -known writers of the 20th century. The country has inspired foreign authors from the winded alleys from Tangier to the Ocker walls of Marrakech, who, in contrast to another place, have found a depth of culture, contrast and storytelling.
Paul Bowles made Morocco his lifelong muse. Anaïs Nin was meanwhile enchanted by the urgent beauty of Fez, its labyrinth -like medina, its hidden courtyards and his feeling of timelessness. In her diaries, she conquered the city’s surreal atmosphere with the same introspective intensity that defined her work and let you penetrate her imagination like a semi -master.
Tennessee Williams and William S. Burroughs sought creative refuge in his layered landscapes, just like Edith Wharton and George Orwell recorded fragments of his mind in their travel letters. Jean Genet found poetry in his edges, and Esther Freud entered the footsteps of this long line of literary pilgrims. Again and again Morocco has proven his literary weight against all chances of winning.
Back to Siel. The coming week is full of panel discussions, workshops and debates, which touch with Moroccan and foreign literature, women and writing in Morocco, publication challenges, poetry and even literary landscapes, which are characterized by Moroccan diaspora. Gaza and the power of resistance through words also find a place in the book fair.
This year’s guest of honor, Sharjah, brings his own cultural depth into the fair. Emirati Publishers and authors join with Moroccan colleagues in conversations that bridge the Arab world. Traditional Heritage shows, Arabic calligraphies and workshops for children offer visitors an insight into Sharjah’s literary heartbeat.
When the sun set on the first day, this edition proven The fact that it is a step forward in Morocco and focuses on books in the center of bourgeois life and imagination, in the hope that reading will become a lasting part of everyday life for Moroccans.
If the first day is an indication of this, the coming days promise an interactive celebration of the power of literature to bring people together one side after the other.
