Salon International Du Livre d’Alger, also known as the International Book Fair of Algiers, is set to move online in an announcement made on August 17, 2020.
Salon International Du Livre d’Alger, dedicated to books and writing, was first hosted at the Maritime Pins Exhibition Centre in Algiers by the Algerian Ministry of Culture in 1996. Since then, millions of visitors have attended hundreds of events with hundreds of writers from Algeria, the region, and further afield. Every year it has a country guest of honour like Switzerland, Lebanon, and Senegal. 2019 alone had 1,030 publishing houses from 36 countries taking part, including 298 Algerian, and registered 1,150 million visitors. It can rightly be considered one of the most important book fairs in North Africa.
The festival is traditionally held each year at the end of October and beginning of November. The 2020 edition of the festival has also been affected by the Covid-19 global pandemic and the organisers have opted to move the event, like many others, online.
“The decision to hold a 25th virtual edition was taken in consultation with representatives of Algerian publishers and officials of the book office at the level of the Ministry of Culture and the Arts in the face of “the impossibility of holding this event which attracts more than one million visitors per year during this exceptional period of the pandemic “, Djamel Foughali was quoted as saying. Foughali is the director of the book office at the Ministry of Culture and Arts.
The director in the statement hasn’t yet shared how the new event will be implemented.
You can read more analysis on this move from our friends at Arablit.org.
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