OUR city with a population of 6 million people does not have many moments of happiness or joy. It does not have large gatherings like in the Riyadh Annual International Book Fair. The city of Riyadh has exceptional circumstances that make it different from other cities of the world. It does not have museums, theaters, cinema houses, art galleries or music concerts. It has nothing but hundreds of restaurants and shopping malls beside this orphan exhibition. To be fair, there is also the flower festival. This year, the Janadriyah National Festival for Heritage and Culture has been cancelled for the first time in 25 years because of the death of its initiator, King Abdullah. This leaves us only with the book fair, which is expected to attract about a million visitors who will part with about SR20 million in its pavilions during a time span of 10 days. This is a large amount of money compared to book fairs in other Arab countries. As we were the best in many services during the 1980s before we were surpassed by other countries around us, we have to improve this fair. I wrote several times before that nothing had changed in this exhibition since it was organized by King Saud University. The only change was the addition of some accompanying activities and the choice of a guest country every year. The exhibition has not witnessed any radical changes. The entry of international publishers from various parts of the world has not happened yet. No printing or translation contracts worth millions of riyals have been signed at the Riyadh book fairs so far. The printing and translation contracts are usual features of the international book fairs in London, Frankfurt, New York and other cosmopolitan cities. The Ministry of Culture and Information, which organizes the book fair, should get rid of some of its long bureaucratic procedures. The ministry announces the name of the guest country only two weeks before the opening of the fair while in other international book fairs, the names of five guest countries for the next five years are announced well in advance. Is it a difficult thing for the ministry to name next year's guest country during this year's book fair so that participants, visitors and publishers will know who it is? I am not talking about many years to come but only next year alone. It is true that the naming of the guest country may need coordination with some other government departments. It is also true that this coordination may take a long time to do but the question remains: Why does the ministry not work with other concerned government departments earlier? Why does the ministry not obtain the approval of the other concerned departments and of the guest country itself at an earlier time? The ministry can, from this very day, announce the names of the guest countries for the 2016 and 2017 exhibitions without any problem. The ministry's award for the best 10 Saudi books of the year is a welcome initiative, though the prize money is not often paid on time due to the routine procedures and government red tape. The Saudi writers and authors are kept happy by this annual award despite the delay in receiving the money and media negligence of the event. Book signing ceremonies for new books still encounter problems in the Riyadh book exhibitions. The ministry has added new terms and conditions that have further complicated the signing ceremonies. Under the ministry's conditions, the book must be new and secured the clearance of its censorship department before publication. The author should fill in a special application form requesting a signing session for his or her book. There should also be a special corner for the signing. In other Arab fairs, the book signings are done in the pavilions of the publishers themselves. Every publisher has the right to organize a signing ceremony with a view to creating direct dialogue between the writer and his readers. Anyway, these are all passing remarks that do not undermine the importance of this significant event. Let us all celebrate and visit the Riyadh book fair.
