The 35th Cairo International Book Fair opened to an anxious reception, writes Amina Elbendary This year's round of the Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF), the 35th in its history, opened its doors last Thursday against a backdrop of political ambivalence in the city, and in the region. As war looms ever more threatening on the horizon, regional politics were once more at the centre of President Mubarak's speech to the assembled intellectual and cultural figures. "This round comes at a time when the world -- and the Arab region in particular -- is witnessing a number of international and regional changes which necessitate a new and enlightened cultural dialogue and a new vision of the role of intellectuals in serving the various causes of society, in particular the comprehensive development which we strive for," the president said. CIBF, he argued, has grown beyond its original role as a meeting place for reading and culture into a free democratic platform to which society brings its most pressing issues for intellectuals to study, offering various sectors of society opportunities to join in the discussion. The fair's role, the president stressed, did not stop at its national boundaries "but stretched into Arab horizons, thereby making it a yearly meeting place for Arab intellectuals". Egypt's historical position at the cultural vanguard posits major challenges, he argued, giving it an active role in safeguarding Arab identity at a time when developments throughout the world are adding new elements to Arab culture. These are not limited to the technological revolution, but also include political variables that have had an impact on international cultural dialogue and which have bred distrust in various parties' intentions, in the process sharpening political and economic conflicts instead of melting the differences between different viewpoints, Mubarak pointed out. The fair's organisers, the General Egyptian Book Organisation (GEBO), made a conscious effort to recognise and honour intellectuals from different corners of the Arab world this year -- an innovation which critics are welcoming. It comes as an indication of a desire by the nation's intellectual elite and cultural policy makers to engage more thoroughly with the Arab cultural scene -- itself an indication of Egypt's commitment to playing a central, if not quite vanguard, role in regional politics. Thus, at the opening ceremony, President Mubarak honoured Mohamed Gaber Al-Ansari from Bahrain for his book Tagdid Al-Nahda (Revising the Renaissance), Sulayman Al-Askari from Kuwait for Al-Arabi cultural magazine, Suhayl Idris from Lebanon for Al-Adab magazine, Faysal Draj from Palestine for his book Nazariyat Al-Riwaya (The Theory of the Novel), Mamdouh Udwan from Syria for his collection of poetry entitled Tufulat Mu'agala (Postponed Childhoods), Khalifa Al-Talisi from Libya for his lifetime achievement and finally Abdallah Al-Uways from the United Arab Emirates for the Islamic Encyclopedia. As is his custom, the president also honoured a number of Egyptian cultural figures: Abdel- Rahman El-Abnoudi for Al-Sira Al-Hilaliya (The Hilaliya Epic), Khayri Shalabi for his latest novel Saharig Al-Lu'lu' (Pearl Cauldrons), Mohamed Uda for Kayf Saqatat Al-Malakiya fi Misr (How the Monarchy Fell in Egypt), Ali Fahmi for his sociological study on informal neighbourhoods and Ahmed Hamroush for his memoir, Nasig Al-Umr. In addition, a number of cultural institutions were also honoured: Arab League's Education, Science and Culture Organisation (ALESCO) represented by Al-Munji Bosnina, Esesco represented by Abdel-Aziz Al-Tweigri and Al- Ahram Centre for Political and Strategic Studies (ACPSS) represented by Abdel-Moneim Said. Finally, Mohamed Adnan Salem of Dar Al-Fikr Al-Arabi, Syria, was declared publisher of the year. The regional dilemma, profound as it most certainly is, has thrown into relief domestic issues which are the focus of this year's hotchpotch of seminars and symposia under the title Egypt in a Changing World. Particular emphasis is placed on the issues facing young Egyptians, including political participation, the role of NGOs in development, educational reform, unemployment, and even the software industry. Other themes covered by the symposia include political parties in Egypt, the clash and dialogue of civilisations, cloning and ethics, Islam and the West and the Arab Israeli conflict. The Ministry of Culture is also providing forums to showcase cultural production in the provinces. On the other hand the usual flurry of reports relating to banned and censored books has resurfaced. On Tuesday the marketing director of the Lebanese publishing house Dar Al-Adab, Nabil Nofal, told Al- Ahram Weekly that a number of books shipped to Cairo for sale at CIBF have been banned by some official at a Department of Publishing based in Ataba. Dar Al-Adab is not directly involved with the authority in question, since it is the distributor and shipping agency who are responsible for clearing the books. Dar Al-Adab, along with a number of Lebanese and Syrian publishing houses, experienced similar problems last year when their crates were withheld at Damietta because the shipping agency was in legal dispute with the customs authorities. Authorities at the time insisted that there was no censorship behind the withholding of shipments and the publishers joined the fair without their latest titles, relying instead on books that had been in their Cairo storehouses from the previous year. They are dealing with a different distributor this year to avoid such problems, only to be told by the distributor that permission for a number of titles to enter Cairo had been withheld. Dar Al-Adab titles not allowed to enter Egypt by the Ataba based official make a strange list: they include 40 copies of Nobel laureate Nikos Kazantzakis's Zorba the Greek, the eighth edition of a 1960's translation, 15 copies of Milan Kundera's The Unbearable Lightness of Being, five copies of the Syrian novelist Zakariya Tamer's first novel, Al-Numur fil-Yawm Al- Ashir (Tigers on the Tenth Day), first published in the 1960s, five copies of an Arabic translation of Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, Nawal El-Saadawi's Mudhakkarati fi Sign Al-Nisaa (My Diaries in the Women's Jail) and ten copies of a number of Edwar El-Kharrat's works: Turabha Za'faran (City of Saffron), Hitan 'Aliya (High Walls), Makhluqat Al-Ashwaq Al-Ta'ira (Creatures of Flying Desires) and Ikhtiraqat Al-Hawa . All of Kharrat's novels have been published locally, as have Saadawi's memoirs. "They were even going to ban Kharrat's Aswat Al- Hadatha (Voices of Modernity) before they realised it was a book of literary criticism. But I had some copies of the novels in the storehouse so I am putting them out here at the fair, just to spite the official in charge, whoever he is." Nofal suggests that this latest censorship issue is the fallout of the ban on an issue of the publishing house's magazine, Al-Adab, which included a folder on "censorship in Egypt". The issue was banned before an outcry by intellectuals and the press (as well as the publisher's decision to post the issue in question on the Internet) led to reversal of this decision. Other publishers, mainly Lebanese and Syrian houses that specialise in literature, have also experienced problems with the censors this year, but they are reluctant to talk to the press. "No one wants problems, of course," comments Nofal. Al-Adab, however, have yet to receive any official letter informing them about the fate of their books. "I am ready to accept the decision, but I want a piece of paper that declares that. So far the decision has been an oral one communicated to the distributor." For a publishing house like Al-Adab, CIBF presents an opportunity to meet with publishers from all across the Arab world. Losing this number of books is, Nofal insists, "a grave moral loss". It is also an economic loss. A book like Zorba would sell for around LE25, at 40 copies this amounts to LE1000. It is not yet clear what the real facts behind the story are, nor how it will unfold throughout the remaining week of CIBF. Is it a case of censorship or just of the narrow-mindedness of some junior official or, as some suggest, an attempt by junior government employees to make some money on the side? "They won't send back the censored copies, you know. One day you will find them on the shelves of some downtown bookstore, a black market," says Nofal. Whatever the reasons, it remains symptomatic of the idiosyncrasies of CIBF that Al-Adab's founder and proprietor, Suhayl Idris, was honoured during the opening ceremony. Outside Al-Adab's stall, reduced to half its usual size this year, it is heartwarming to hear so many dialects of Arabic spoken. Despite such glitches as Al-Adab's the fair remains an opportunity for Arab culture to interact. My search for a single Iraqi publishing house, though, was in vain. Saudi Arabia, however, has a hanger to itself, renovated this year to resemble a fort. Kuwait's separate kiosk has posters of the emir with a banner reading "Kuwait is free". The recorded sermons of popular preacher Amr Khaled, which had tested one's endurance last year, played as they were at monstrous volume, have moved inside this year following rumours that he has been unofficially deported from Egypt. Countless stalls carry handwritten signs indicating "Amr Khaled tapes sold inside". In their place book vendors are now playing modern religious- inspired songs. Multimedia publications, in the forms of CDs and DVDs, have also spread this year. Most of this material is limited to educational software and popular religious material. The 35th round of CIBF seems eerily similar to its forerunners. The only renovations that have taken place are at the food stalls. A new coffee hangout has been introduced. The more it changes, the more it stays the same.
