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Baghdad book fair displays Iran’s literature
Iran has brought 1,150 books to the 27th Baghdad International Book Fair, which opened Wednesday in the Iraqi capital with more than 600 publishers from 28 countries, as Prime Minister Ali al-Zeidi described Baghdad as a continuing hub for culture and intellectual exchange.
The 10-day fair, running through September 2, features Iran’s Book and Literature House on behalf of the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance’s cultural affairs deputy. Its pavilion brings together works spanning Iranian history and art, literature, children’s and young adult books, women’s studies, psychology, resistance, Islamic jurisprudence, Qur’anic editions, Persian-language instruction, tourism and Iranology, IRNA reported.
The display is designed to introduce Arabic-speaking readers to the breadth of Iran’s literary and intellectual output while opening up further opportunities for publishing and cultural cooperation between the two neighboring countries.
At the opening ceremony, attended by Iraqi Culture, Tourism and Antiquities Minister Sarwa Abdulwahid, Baghdad Governor Atwan al-Atwani and Iraqi Publishers Union President Abdulwahab al-Radhi, al-Zeidi said the event carried a message that Baghdad remains a “qibla of culture,” a beacon of thought and a guardian of the written word.
Iran’s participation also includes a seminar examining Iranian-Iraqi cultural relations through the perspective of the martyred Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei. Three Iraqi academics and an Iranian scholar are scheduled to discuss the two countries’ shared historical and civilizational ties and Khamenei’s views on their cultural potential.
Publishers from across the Middle East and North Africa, including Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the UAE, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Morocco, Algeria and Libya, as well as Turkey and Palestine, are taking part in the Baghdad event.