London book fair (LBF) was held on 5-7 April 2022 at Olympia, London. It is the global marketplace for rights negotiation and the sale and distribution of content across print, audio, TV, film and digital channels. This year more than 25,000 publishing professionals arrive in London for the week of the fair, which in fact held during theLondon Book & Screen Week.
This year Sharjah, United Arab Emirate was the Market Focus of the LBF. The LBF in partnership with Sharjah Book Authority and the British Council included various cultural events and presented Emirati authors. It also offered the UK and international publishers the chance to forge new business partnerships and expand into global markets. Andy Ventris, the Director of the LBF mentioned that "One of the most important aspects of the fair is its role as a global forum for the exchange of cultural ideas and literature, and we are delighted to shine a spotlight on all that Sharjah publishing and Emirati literature has to offer".
First time Bangladesh has participated in the LBF this year. It is interesting to see that besides Bangabandhu Pavilion, Routledge publishing house, UK has also displayed a book about Bangabandhu titled 'Secret documents of intelligence branch on father of the nation, Bangladesh', edited by Sheikh Hasina, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh.
In addition to Bangladesh some other new exhibitors first time joined the LBF. This includes Legible from USA, Beat Technology from Norway, Arab Publishers Association from UAE, Greyhound Literary Agents from UK and several other new exhibitors from Panama, Italy, UAE and UK.
History suggests that the London book fair, originally known as the Specialist Publishers Exhibition for Librarian, was started on 5 November 1971 in the basement of the Berners Hotel in London by Clive Bingley and Lionel Leventhal. The idea was to give platform to publishers so that they can show books to the librarians. The scope and influence of the event grew gradually and the name of the fair becomes 'London Book Fair' in 1977. It is now become the second largest book fair in the world.
In addition to print media, a new focus of LBF is now digital technology. It is noted that increasing numbers of people, children and teenagers are engaged in the digital technology.
Many authors and publishers are looking for a new way of telling their stories and digital technology, is one of the options. So, this year lots of discussion happened about a media convergence. This means that different media will work together to disseminate ideas and imagination in a various format.
As Sharjah, United Arab Emirate (UAE) is the market focus country this year, Emirati writers participated in the programme.
Sharjah market focus pavilion showcase cultural initiatives from across Sharjah, including projects by Al Qasimi Publications, Department of Culture in Sharjah, UAE Board on Books for Young People, Kalimat Group and Dr. Sultan Al-Qasimi Centre of Gulf Studies. The pavilion also highlighted the Sharjah Publishing City, which is the world's first publishing and printing freezone, offering premium services and commercial advantages to publishers, authors and other literary professionals from around the world.
Under the leadership of Sharjah's ruler, His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan Bin Mohammad Al Qasimi, Sharjah has been committed to the promotion of books and literacy for over four decades. It has become a centre for publishing across the Arab World, with Sharjah Publishing City, the influential Sharjah International Book Fair, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2020, and the Sharjah Children's Reading Festival in April. In 2019 Sharjah was also designated UNESCO World Book Capital.
When I looked around books in LBF, I thought what happened before the invention of the printing press. Indeed the biggest collection of books was the great library of Alexandria founded by Ptolemy Sotar in 285 BC, which contained half a million books.
History suggested that books were often stolen from libraries as trophies of war and every ship that came into the port of Alexandria was raided by officials, who confiscated any book on board. These books were then taken to the library, where copies were made; the library kept the originals and gave the copies back to the ship's crew.
In terms of book trading, Alberto Manguel, in his book 'A History of Reading' suggests that "from roughly the end of the twelfth century, books became recognised as items of trade, and in Europe the commercial value of books was sufficiently established for money-lenders to accept them as collateral; notes recording such pledges are found in numerous medieval books, especially those belonging to students."
In modern era, it is clear that on the one hand cultural awareness and on the other hand technological growth has increased globally. So we are more connected now-a-days. This means that we can share easily what we have as a country but publishing industry needs to depend on diversity and intercultural cooperation. Sharjah can be considered as an example in front of Bangladesh for becoming a market focus country.
Above all, over the years the London Book Fair is uniting the most talented minds in content. London has been the setting of many evocative stories from Charles Dickens, Virginia Woolf, Jane Austin and many more writers to name. History suggests that 'It's a place where characters come to life. Walking through the streets of London, you can easily picture Oliver Twist pick-pocketing or Mrs Dalloway making her way around busy Westminster.
A city as timeless as London never stops inspiring or creating and continues to unite the most talented of minds. This year, Bangladesh's participation has left its footprint and imprint on the London book fair. Thanks to Ministry of Cultural Affairs team from Bangladesh and the Bangladesh High Commission in London for their collaborative efforts of participating in the fair. I hope that Bangladesh will be able to join the London Book Fair as a market focus country in a very near future.
Dr Kanan Purkayastha is a UK based academic, chartered scientist and environmentalist, columnist and author
