Unlike the book fairs in London or Frankfurt the Cairo Book Fair is open to the public and is one of the largest cultural events in the Middle East attracting over 1.5 million visitors.

This year the British Council delivered the UK Guest of Honour programme at the 41st Cairo International Book Fair with UK partners The London Book Fair, The Publishers Association (PA) and the Independent Publishers Guild (IPG).

What resulted rich and varied programme of events spread over ten days celebrating the ‘full circle’ of the literature world from writers to publishers to readers and included:

•55 speakers from both the UK and Egypt including acclaimed authors  Anthony Horowitz, Dame Margaret Drabble and Ben Okri.

•11 panel discussions, 14 Literary cafes, a café Scientifique looking at the science of football, an evening of poetry readings, two musical performances and three days of crowd-gathering street theatre.

•A delegation of 20 top UK publishers who were able to build networks and have discussions with their Arab counterparts.

•A conference on encouraging young readers opened by First Lady Suzanne Mubarak and attended by 200 policy makers, librarians and teachers with representation from the National Literacy Trust, Reading Agency and Book Trust.  

The programme proved an enriching experience for both the local audience and the UK authors who helped deliver it. Author Meg Rossoff said afterwards: 'It really was one of the richest cross-cultural experiences I’ve ever had, and such a rare opportunity to get under the skin of another country, Despite it being just a few days, I felt very moved by the experience, and got a glimpse of some of the issues of Islamic culture that I hadn’t really comprehended before. There’s something about talking to people 'on the ground' that makes all the difference.'