APS : Friday, 28 October 2016
ALGIERS-Algeria has been selected as guest of honour at the 49th Cairo International Book Fair (Egypt) in 2018, announced Culture Minister Azzedine Mihoubi in Algiers.
Algeria’s invitation comes after the request made by Egypt’s Public Committee of Books (Ministry of Culture), said Mihoubi at a meeting on Algeria-Egypt cultural relations held on the sidelines of the 21st International Book Fair of Algiers (SILA 2016), in which Egypt is a guest of honour.
The meeting was an opportunity to pay homage to Egyptian novelist Mohamed Selmaoui for his various works (novels, short stories and theatre), which have “an impact on Arab readers,” Mihoubi said.
The ceremony was attended by Egypt’s ambassador to Algeria Mohamed Abu Aich, former Egypt’s Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Dammati and President of High Committee of Books Haitem Hadj Ali.
Regarding the Algeria-Egypt cultural relations, Mihoubi dubbed them “deep and date back to more than 20 centuries,” recalling that his department “seeks to strengthen partnership between the two countries, particularly in publishing, cinema and theatre.”
Besides, the same official hailed Egyptian publishing houses that publish books written by Algerian authors.
