Oman Wires It's all about Oman
More than 500,000 books from more than 800 publishers and 30 nations are on show at the 24th edition of the fair getting held at the Oman Convention & Exhibition Centre.
The sultanate’s stalls had been flooded with Omanis as effectively as expatriates getting books by Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Khalili and professional Dr Salem bin Busaidi.
Mohammad Ikram, an Indian expatriate stated, “The books are written in simple ways with lots of examples which help young children better understand our religion. Also the books cover the essentials to conduct one’s life in a righteous manner in professional, personal and social life.”
Sultan bin Said al Busaidi, head of Foreign Publication Department, Ministry of Information added, “Like every year even this year the demand for religious books is high. But at the same time, fiction is also popular both among young adults and middle-aged people. Omani writers like Mohammad Rahabi is very popular; he writes on love, society and relationship. Among women writers, Bushara Khalfan is also a popular fiction writer and her books are equally popular at the festival.”
Books translated to Arabic from other languages are also well-liked.
People had been also noticed reading as effectively as getting books from stalls set up by nations like Norway, China and Sweden.
Miny Yue from the China stall stated, “We have some of the classics, folktales from China and they are translated into Arabic and we see a great response among the Omanis and people in Oman.”
She added that there are also books on Chinese cuisines and culture.
Mona Herring, an author and translator from Sweden stated, “I have been coming to the book fair for several years and I am often pleased to see the response from individuals. We translate some of the greatest of books from the Scandinavian nations to Arabic. People say that the spirit is lost throughout translation but if the translator is excellent, he will often make certain to preserve the power and spirit of the book alive.
“Over the years I am seeing that more and more Omanis are going global in their choices of books. It is excellent as books have no boundaries and they are always universal.”
China, Bulgaria, Canada and Sri Lanka are participating in the fair for the very first time.
The books are also displayed and posted on the site https://www.mctbookfair.gov.om/en/search-individual/ , of which 35 per cent are new releases.
The Muscat International Book Fair 2019 will be held till March two.
Information Source: Muscat Daily
