Amman International Book Fair brings global stories to capital

AMMAN — Events at the annual Amman International Book Fair kicked off Thursday, this year celebrating its twentieth year and the Jordanian State's centennial. The fair is organised by the Union of Jordanian Publishers in cooperation with the Ministry of Culture and the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM) to bring a range of international stories to Jordanian readers.

The exhibition, which is held at the Amman International Car Exhibition, will run through October 2nd.

The exhibition is held with the participation of more than 360 local, Arab and international publishers from 20 countries. The participating countries are: Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Iraq, Syria, Kuwait, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, Sudan, Turkey, the US, Canada, Britain, India, Italy and China, according to the official press release.

“There is a very high demand for children’s Arabic learning books this year. Also, the spiritual and psychological books are selling quickly,” Ayham Rizek, a publishing house Delegate, told The Jordan Times.

“The Jordanian author Ayman Otoom’s novels are some of the most sold books at the expo,” an organiser who preferred to be anonymous told The Jordan Times. 

The book fair is dedicated to Mustafa Wahbi Al Tal, Jordan's most prominent poet, also known as "Arar", who was born in Irbid in 1899.

“The Book Fair is considered a great opportunity for Jordanian publishers’’, Union of Jordanian Publishers President Jaber Abu Faris, said in the statement.

Book categories available at the exhibition include religious–spiritual books, children’s books, psychological, historical, science fiction-fantasy and many more, as observed by The Jordan Times. 

“I still enjoy reading paper books, the sense of holding a book with a hard cover and going through the pages gives me better comprehension, as well as a piece of mind,” Amal Qadi, an exposition visitor, told The Jordan Times.

“I started my reading journey during the COVID-19 lockdown. I started with science fiction novels and now I read random topics. Reading has become a habit for me that I do not want to quit,” Rami Samarah, a university student, told The Jordan Times at the event.