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The 28th Algiers International Book Fair (Sila) was officially inaugurated this Thursday at the Palais des Expositions des Pins Maritimes by the Prime Minister, Sifi Ghrieb, in the presence of members of the government, senior state officials and representatives of national institutions.
Placed under the slogan “The book, crossroads of cultures”, the fair, which opens its doors today to the public, welcomes, until November 8, the Islamic Republic of Mauritania as guest of honor. With a “record participation” of 1,254 exhibitors from 49 countries, including 290 from Algeria, 410 from the Arab world and 554 from other regions, Sila remains one of the largest literary events on the continent.
This edition, organized under the high patronage of the President of the Republic, Mr. Abdelmadjid Tebboune, offers “a rich and varied cultural, literary and intellectual program, celebrating literature and its symbols, and giving particular interest to memory, history, identity and causes of liberation,” announced the commissioner of the Salon, Mr. Iguerb.
In this regard, he specified that the choice of Mauritania as guest of honor reflected “the depth of relations and civilizational links between the two countries, their economic complementarity and their community of destiny”.
The Salon will see the participation of 1,254 publishing houses representing 49 countries, including 290 Algerian, 410 from Arab countries and 554 foreign, spread over a total area of 23,000 square meters, as well as 250 writers and intellectuals from Algeria, Africa and elsewhere, added Mr. Iguerb, describing this participation as “record”.
In addition, 55 activities are scheduled for this edition, including conferences on children’s literature, with the participation of writers from Algeria and abroad, seminars highlighting creativity in the age of AI and history and memory, as well as poetry evenings in support of humanitarian causes.
This year SILA will pay tribute to writers Rachid Boudjedra and Abdelhamid Benhadouga.
The organizers have also planned conference-debates on the causes of liberation and the peoples in struggle, led by the Palestinian and Sahrawi peoples, in addition to the celebration of the centenary of the birth of Frantz Fanon.
Furthermore, SILA will attach particular importance to memory and history, through conferences on the crimes of colonial France, in particular the massacres of May 8, 1945, and the commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the North Constantine Offensive (August 20, 1955). A conference will also be devoted to Emir Abdelkader.
On the sidelines of the Salon, an international conference, with the theme “Algeria in civilization”, will be held on November 4 at the El Aurassi hotel, with the participation of a host of writers, intellectuals and researchers from Algeria and abroad, with the aim of highlighting Algerian civilizational creativity through vestiges, engravings and material and intangible heritage.
The cultural program of this edition will be hosted by eminent figures from the literary and cultural scene, including the Mauritanian poet Diakité Cheikh Seck, the Lebanese novelist Ahmad Ali El Zein, the Tunisian thinker and philosopher Fathi Triki, the Palestinian writer Ahmed Alnaouq, the Saudi literary critic Mageb Al-Adwani, alongside big Algerian names, such as Rachid Boudjedra, Waciny Laredj and Djilali Khellas, as well as writers and intellectuals from African and European countries and the United States of America.