Iran to stage book fair online as digital reach expands amid scaled-back foreign presence
Tehran’s seventh Virtual Book Fair will open on May 16 with more than 2,200 publishers and a limited international section, as Iran shifts its flagship literary event online in response to wartime conditions while seeking to sustain public access to books and preserve momentum in the country’s publishing industry.
Speaking at a press conference in Tehran, Tehran International Book Fair deputy director Ebrahim Heydari said 2,296 publishers had registered for the nationwide digital event and around 80% of titles had already been uploaded to the platform ahead of the eight-day fair running under the slogan “Let’s Read for Iran.”
“This exhibition is not international,” Heydari said, noting that authorities opted for a virtual-only format after consultations with publishers, writers and cultural figures. A full-scale international edition will be held “at another opportunity,” he added.
The annual Tehran book fair, one of the region’s largest cultural gatherings, has been staged every spring for nearly four decades. Organizers said this year’s online edition aims to maintain “social vitality,” broaden nationwide access to books and demonstrate the continuity of cultural life despite mounting economic and wartime pressures.
Although scaled back internationally, the event will still host 19 foreign publishers and literary agencies. Organizers said Arabic- and English-language titles would be available alongside domestic publications, while a new digital media section will debut for the first time.
Books published since 2021 will qualify for sale on the platform, with newly released titles added throughout the fair period. Domestic publications will be offered with combined discounts of up to 25% through publisher reductions and subsidies provided by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Heydari said books ordered through the platform would be delivered free of charge nationwide in cooperation with Iran’s national postal service. Special provisions have also been introduced for children in the southern city of Minab in tribute to victims of what officials described as the “third imposed war.”
More than 30 cultural forums and literary discussions featuring domestic and foreign guests are scheduled alongside the virtual marketplace.
“Reading and buying books help sustain the publishing industry,” Heydari said, describing the fair’s slogan as a reflection of “continuity and dynamism” in Iranian cultural life.