Category: Kuwait

Despite censorship controversy Kuwait International Book Fair attracted 300,000 visitors. MENA on target for 10-15 million visitors this Arab book fair season

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The Kuwait News Agency report extolling the success of the 43rd Kuwait International Book Fair carefully avoided any reference to the censorship controversy that beleaguered the event. But it did mention that the Minister of Information and Minister of State for Youth Affairs Mohammad Al-Jabri  had held, a meeting with the organizers to go over Read More …

Has the Kuwait book ban been overturned?

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The just-ended Kuwait Book Fair attracted a lot of unwelcome international attention this year thanks to what were often wildly irrational censorship decisions resulting in 700 books banned in 2018 and over 4,000 books banned in the last few years. But has that censorship ban just been overturned by the judiciary? One report from Alqabas Read More …

The TNPS Week In Review

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It’s been a quiet week at TNPS for various reasons, but here’s what was covered this past seven days.   Storytel confirms Brazil launch for 2019 as Mexico launch nears. Sharjah 2.23 million. Algiers 2.2 million. 4.4 million visitors to Arab book fairs in the past two weeks. The Arab Renaissance gathers momentum. The Arab Read More …

The Arab Renaissance set back by worsening censorship in Kuwait. Dostoyevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov among 1,000 titles banned at Kuwait Book Fair

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After the resounding success of the Sharjah International Book Fair in the UAE, extolling a message of cultural tolerance and publishing freedom, the Arab literary arena was this week plunged into controversy once more as the Kuwait International Literary Festival kicked off. Running November 14 through 24 the Kuwait event was already standing in the Read More …

As Sharjah takes centre-stage, Kuwait’s Almultaqa Prize Announces 5-book Pan-Arab Shortlist for 2018

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With the Sharjah International Book Fair underway in the United Arab Emirates you could be forgiven for thinking there was only one bookish event happening in the Middle East North Africa (MENA) arena right now. The just finished Khartoum International Book Fair, for example, passed almost completely unnoticed in Sudan, while the still on-going Algiers Read More …

Start The Day Global – 5 October 2018

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We Start The Day Global today with e-visits to Botswana, India, Brazil, Kuwait and the UK. First, this from twitter. This is Sebilo Books advocating its readers to head along to Goodreads to find their next read. We’ve all heard of Goodreads, of course. Sebilo Books? That’s a small publisher in Botswana in southern Africa. Read More …

A mermaid wearing a bra among the books banned in Kuwait, but protests are gathering momentum

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Censorship is a difficult topic that arouses strong emotions, but of course all freedom of speech is relative. From national security to Holocaust denial to incitement to hatred to advocating underage sex, almost every country censors at some level. But some countries take such censorship to extremes. Kuwait is an example. Kuwait has enjoyed a Read More …