The 30th Istanbul Book Fair will open on Saturday, November 12, 2011.

Organized by TÜYAP Fair and Exhibition Organization, Inc. in partnership with the Turkish Publishers Association, The 30th International Istanbul Book Fair will be held between November 12 and 20, 2011 at the TÜYAP Fair and Convention Center, Büyükçekmece with more than 600 publishers and NGOs attending, and will host 200 events and several hundred autograph sessions. The Ministers of Culture of Turkey and Egypt will conduct the opening ceremony, and publishers, copyright agencies and guest writers from 35 countries will take part in the fair.

Writer of Honor: Ferit Edgü
The Writer of Honor of the 30th Book Fair is Ferit Edgü and the event’s main theme is “Hope: Dream or Reality?”. Highlights of the fair are 20 guest writers, hundreds of autograph sessions and thematic events.

Guest Country: Egypt
The Guest Country of the International Hall that will remain open from November 12 to 15 will be Egypt. Events will take place with the attendance of almost 25 publishers from Egypt, and cover a variety of subjects from cinema to literature and cultural history. Other events include a panel discussion to commemorate the 100th year of the birth of Naguib Mahfouz, interviews with guest writers, and autograph sessions.

Guest writers from Egypt include Gamal Gitani, Ibrahim Aslan, Yusuf Zidane, Mohammed Salmawy, Mai Khaled and Ahmed El Shahawy. In addition, select works from Egyptian cinema will be screened as part of the Egyptian Cinema Days.”

The National Dance Troupe will perform folk dances from Egypt on the opening day, November 12.

The 200 events of the International Istanbul Book Fair will be categorized under the main theme, Writer of Honor Ferit Edgü, Reading Hours and Interviews with Writers of Children’s Literature, the 50th Year of Worker Migration, and Professional Meetings of the Publishing Industry.

International Hall and Copyright Agencies Section
Many foreign publishers will join the fair at the International Hall in Hall 10 between November 12 and 15. Publishers from 35 countries will take part, including Germany, Azerbaijan, Albania, France, Holland, India, UK, Iran, Italy, Spain, Cuba, Egypt, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia and Greece. The LAF (Literature Across Frontiers) will introduce independent publishers, literary societies and cultural centers from 24 countries.

The Copyright Agencies Section will host the leading copyright agencies from the United States, Germany, France, Italy, UK, Spain, Norway and Russia.

Guest Writers of the Fair
The 30th Istanbul Book Fair will host many prominent figures in the world of literature. Guests include Eduardo Mendoza, one of the greatest writers in Spain alive; political scientist Michael Hardt; Uwe Timm, the leading figure of the 68 movement in Germany; Mathias Enard and David Boratav from France; Nuria Amat from Spain; journalist Robert Fisk; Prince Radu of Romania; Irina Horea, Grete Tartler, Pavel Gheo Prose and Emin Emel from Romania; and leading children’s writers Brigitte Labbé, John Boyne and Oscar Brenefier.

Bestselling Authors at the Fair
Tess Gerritsen, the author of bestselling horror novels, will make her first appearance in Turkey at the Istanbul Book Fair with an interview and autograph session. Another outstanding horror novelist visiting the fair will be Simon Beckett. Beckett will hold autograph sessions on November 18 and 19.

Exhibitions at the Book Fair
The Istanbul Book Fair invites all readers to take a look back at its future in its 30th year. The 30 Years of Tüyap Book Fair Exhibition includes visuals of Writers of Honor, fair books, catalogs, photographs, posters, revolving cards, bookmarks, invitations and leaflets from the fair’s 30-year history.

The Guest Country events include the Cairo-Boulak Exhibition of books in the Turkuaz Sahaf Collection. Other items from the same collection comprise the Armenian Books on Turkey Printed in Egypt exhibition, which will be open throughout the fair. Another exhibition includes the graphic designs and illustrations of four artists born in the Ordu province of Turkey: Gürbüz Doğan Ekşioğlu, Emin Öztürk, Sadık Karamustafa and Uğurcan Ataoğlu.

Reminder: Change in Visiting Hours
The 30th International Istanbul Book Fair will open one hour earlier on weekdays for the convenience of students. The weekday visiting hours of the fair are 10 am to 7 pm, while weekend visiting hours have not changed: 11 am to 8 pm. The Book Fair will close at 7 pm on Sunday, November 20, 2011.

Two Fairs, One Venue: ARTIST 2011
The Book Fair will be held concurrently with the 21st International Istanbul Art Fair also organized by TÜYAP.