By Nidhi Chandran
The 23rd Doha International Book Fair seems to be drawing more people after National Day, with many families and school students visiting in the past two days. This year’s exhibition has more than 400 publishers from almost 27 Arab and foreign countries including the UK, US, Sweden and India.
Japan is the guest of honour at the fair as the culmination of ‘Qatar — Japan 2012 cultural programme’. The Japanese embassy is operating in three main zones dedicated to the display of books on traditional culture; sale of titles by Books Kinokuniya from Dubai and various lectures and events on Japanese pop culture.
The Japan pavilion features books on fiction, Manga comics, animation, Japanese language learning CDs and decorative curios showcasing the culture and heritage of the country. Manga comics have a huge following in Qatar and many copies are said to have been sold in first two days itself. “Many people are coming to get Manga series of Eiichiro Oda’s One Piece and Masashi Kishimoto’s Naruto,” said a salesman at the pavilion.
“I came to get some Manga comics from here. We have very few shops in Qatar selling these books. So I thought this is a good time to buy my favourite titles. Also, this pavilion has lot of variety books including classic novels in English and Arabic titles,” said Najla, a student of Al Arqam Academy who was visiting the stall.
There is also display of designer clothing showcasing Japanese pop culture. It includes Putumayo, a street fashion brand from Harajuk with printed designs, Malkomalka and Isbit Daikanyama. About 15 local models wearing the costumes will be participating in a fashion show scheduled for this weekend. Among the series of lectures during the expo, the demonstration of robots by Tomotaka Takahashi (Robot Creator) from Japan had attracted many children as well as elders. Tomotaka spoke about the making of robots and their importance in daily life. There was also an interactive session for visitors.
Although tens of thousands of books are on sale at the expo, the majority of them are in Arabic. Many visitors had the feeling that compared to last year, the number of English books is less.
“This year the ratio of English and Arabic books has changed. The number of English books available is less. I love fiction and prefer to read hard copies than e-books,” said Nadeeda, an engineer from Sri Lanka working at the Pearl.
Publishers are cashing in on children’s books and study materials which form a larger part of the expo. The pavilion Digital Future has many interesting tools to help children learning English and other subjects. In Magic English, an electronic pen reads out for children when pointed towards the text in Arabic and English. These types of tools help kids learn a new language easily by listening to the conversation. A variety of interactive toys are also available for toddlers. The fair also hosts a number of activities for children like painting and games.
Al Maktaba al Hadissa publishers from Jordan has an amazing collection of illustrated classics for children. These books have both Arabic and English text on facing pages with each chapter ending with activities and exercises to test children’s understanding of the story. About 61 titles are available in this section which includes Black Beauty, Oliver Twist, Gulliver’s Travels, Pride & Prejudice, Tale of two Cities , Arabian Nights, Sherlock Home, Jungle Book and Dracula to name a few.
Qatar has also set up a number of pavilions selling books, with Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Publishing being the main attraction. Organisations like Mada (Qatar Assistive Technology Center) and Al Noor Institute among others have set up booths. Mada in partnership with Bookshare, the world’s largest accessible online library of copyrighted content, has come up a new initiative called ‘Books without Barriers’ by making 65,000 e-books accessible for people with visual, learning or physical disabilities. Al Noor Institute has set up a stall named ‘Braille teacher for the blind’- a multi-lingual family tool that helps persons with visual impairment to learn the Braille system.
‘A book is sold every 2 seconds in 150 countries’ reads a quote on the walls of an exclusive pavilion selling books of famous American pulp fiction author L Ron Hubbard. Hubbard’s One the way to Happiness has sold out 100mn copies and is published in 102 languages. His fiction, non-fiction and motivational books along with some audios are put for sale.
He is also the founder of the Church of Scientology.
When asked about his experience at the fair, Thomas Goldenitz, Vice President International Sales for New Era Publications International said, “We have been participating in the fair for the past five years. Many people who had bought books from us last years are coming to buy more. I don’t feel any lessening of sales in Qatar.”
Today, electronic books are becoming popular among readers who prefer mobile digital solutions over heavy printed texts. When asked a question on this he replied, “E-book is a tendency to make broader range of books with zero production cost. Nothing is going to stop e-books as it is the future. In the US and UK there is a situation where retailers are going bankrupt due to the emergence of e-books, but I don’t think books are dying due to their emergence. Even today, there are more readers and buyers for our books. The sales are also going well.”
Attapon from Thailand is an ardent reader of e-books and have bought a series of audios from L Ron Hubbard pavilion. “I read both e-book and hard copy. E-books are really good when you are travelling and they are easier to carry,” said Attapon who is working as an engineer in Qatar.
As the fair is going to end tomorrow, more people are expected to visit the fair and book sellers are confident that sales would pick up over the weekend.
A trio of young readers browsing at the 23rd Doha International Book Fair.
