- Baha Taher, Alaa al-Aswany, Laila al-Juhani and many more
- Thousands come to buy books at Fair

Following its highly successful first-ever dedicated day for trade professionals yesterday, the 18th Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF) opened its doors to the public today and showcased a number of Arabic ‘publishing celebrities’, proving to be a big hit with those who attended. Thousands of people came to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC) on Wednesday to buy books from hundreds of exhibiting publishers and take part in the most exciting programme of events yet.

Best-selling Egyptian author, Alaa al-Aswany, whose novel ‘The Yacoubian Building’ has been translated into 17 languages, was on the ‘KITAB Sofa’ and was viewed to be a key highlight of the day. In a session hosted by Mark Linz of the American University in Cairo Press, al-Aswany spoke about his fascinating inspirations and experiences as a writer, as well as his views on the book publishing industry in the region.

Baha Taher, winner of the inaugural International Prize for Arabic Fiction, an initiative of the Emirates Foundation and supported by the renowned Booker Prize Foundation in the UK, was also interviewed on the Kitab Sofa. Taher, who was awarded the honour on Tuesday evening for his book Sunset Oasis at a glittering event at the Beach Rotana Hotel & Towers, shared his honour at winning the first ever prize, which hopes to set a new standard for Arabic prose.

A networking event for women in the publishing industry, organised by KITAB, the organiser of the event and the joint venture between the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture & Heritage (ADACH) and the Frankfurt Book Fair, also proved to be a draw for industry professionals, especially given the emergence of a new genre of modern Arabian female authors, typified by Laila al-Juhani and Samar al-Mouqrin.

Some of the other events taking place on Wednesday included:
• ‘KITAB: the new venture’, hosted by HE Mohammad Khalaf Al Mazrouie, Director General of ADACH, Jumaa al-Qubaisi, Director of ADBIF and Claudia Kaiser, General Manager of KITAB
• ‘Ibn Khaldoun’s Muqqadima’ session, organised by the Sheikh Zayed Book Award and hosted by Dr Ridwan al-Sayyid (Lebanon)
• ‘Talking Literature: Love Matters - Female Writing in Saudi Arabia’: a discussion by Saudi Arabia’s Leila al-Juhani and Badrya al-Bishr and hosted by Mona Naggar (Germany)
• ‘Copyright versus Piracy’, with Ibrahim al-Moallem (former President of the Arab Publishers Association, Egypt) and Lynette Owen (Pearson, UK), hosted by Jens Bammel (International Publishers Association, Switzerland)
• ‘Online Global Marketing for Books: Google Books Search’ with Santiago de la Mora (Google Books Search, UK), Ramy Habeeb (kotobarabia.com, Egypt) and Sajed Hallaq (KSA)

As to the latest announcement from the organisers, Saturday, March 15 will be open for ladies only from 10am – 2pm. The Fair will be accessible to the general public again from 4- 9pm as scheduled.