Bodour Al Qasimi discusses Arabic children’s book industry in Gothenburg

Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, President of the Emirates Publishers Association, Founder and CEO of Kalimat Group, has highlighted the need for institutional and individual collaboration to develop the Arabic children’s book industry and enrich children’s libraries with inspiring publications for youngsters who have unprecedented access to foreign cultures through increasingly sophisticated technology.

Sheikha Bodour was speaking at a panel discussion entitled, ‘Arabic Children’s Literature Today – Challenges and Opportunities’ which was held at the Gothenburg Book Fair 2017 in Sweden. The fair, the largest cultural event of its kind in the Scandinavian countries and Europe’s second largest book fair, will run until 1st October.

Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi said, "Since the inception of Kalimat publishing house, we have mainly focused on publishing high quality Arabic children’s books that tell stories and depict settings and places Arab children find familiar and interact with, while opening up their horizons to understand and respect other cultures."

She added, "We are proud of the remarkable success and the highly acclaimed reputation that Kalimat has achieved. We have consistently not only met but exceeded the highest international standards and we are able to build on our regional progress to reach an increasingly global audience."

Sheikha Bodour urged children’s book authors around the world to continue to produce creative literature and pick inspiring topics that take children on fascinating journeys to explore the world around them.

At the end of the session, Sheikha Bodour invited participants to attend the upcoming Sharjah International Book Fair, which will take place at Expo Centre Sharjah from November 1st-11th. She pointed out that the fair offers a valuable opportunity for Arab publishers and participating publishers from across the globe to exchange experiences and expertise in the book industry.

Along with Sheikha Bodour Al Qasimi, speakers at the panel discussion included Taghreed Najjar, Jordanian children’s book author, Elisabet Risberg, Librarian at the International Library in Stockholm, and the session was moderated by Maya Abdullah, Journalist on Swedish Public Radio.

On the sidelines of the opening of Gothenburg Book Fair, Sheikha Bodour opened the ‘Multilingual Square’ for non-Swedish speaking publishers, as part of unwavering efforts to support the publishing industry. She underlined the importance of such an initiative in achieving cultural communication between participating publishers from across the world, who share the same vision that books are a source of knowledge and a treasure trove of endeavour, history, humanity and imagination.

The Gothenburg Book Fair has been hosted in Sweden’s second-largest city since 1985. Starting out primarily as a trade fair for librarians and teachers, around 100,000 visitors and 900 exhibitors now attend each year.

Since its inception in 2007, Kalimat has put out over 200 publications, several of which have won prestigious regional and international literature prizes. Kalimat was named the Sharjah International Book Fair’s ‘Publisher of the Year’ in 2012, was the recipient of the ‘Best Asian Publisher Award’ at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2016 and the recipient of the ‘Sheikh Zayed Book Award 2017’ in the category, 'Publishing and Technology’.