Salon Du Livre 22nd Edition

For its 22nd edition, the city's annual Salon du Livre book fair aspires to stand at the crossroads of the French language and the Lebanese society. Over the course of its nine-day program the fair will stage over 100 discussions, more than 200 book-signing sessions and award six writing prizes. New for its 2015 edition, SDL will host a number of comic book writers and graphic novelists, including Lamia Ziade and Thierry Belfroid. The fair will also host the launch of the latest edition of "Samandal," Lebanon's much-loved comic and graphic arts publication.

On its opening day, Oct. 24, Salon du Livre will present 18 writers' talks. French language titles might be translated as "Biographical and Adventurous conference: from Hergé to Derrida," featuring French comic writer, novelist and critic Benoit Peeters.

Participants in the round-table discussion "Phoenician Heritage: A message of universal values" include Stephanie Nassif, Fida Derbas and Emy Fiani.

"The annual organization of the book fair and its growing success confirm the historical role of Beirut in the life of ideas and contribute to the affirmation of its peculiar status as an open city," said Emmanuel Bonne, the French ambassador in Lebanon, in the fair's promotional material. "This year, it will allow many authors and publishers to meet their audience, to exchange views and to find new motivations in Beirut that will enrich their creative work."

Despite the unstable situation in the country, declared Union of Books Importers president Sami Naufal, "there is one quality [the Lebanese people] never lose: Determination. The determination not to fall, to continue the fight, to hold on and to create the best future possible, is a determination that no one can hinder or obstruct."

For the third year now, several Arabic-speaking Lebanese editors will be present at SDL, through works originally written in French. Titles include Vincent Lemir's "Jerusalem 1900," translated by Dar al-Farabi, and Robert Sole's "Sadate," published by Hachette Antoine.

As part of its mission is to promote diversity, the fair's stands will include titles by such francophone talent as Haitian-born Canadian writer Dany Laferrière and Algeria's Kamel Daoud, along with writers from Switzerland, Belgium and Romania.

This year SDL organizers say the fair has a new professional dimension. The French Institute of the Middle East (IFPO) and the French Institute (IF) will stage a translation workshop, drawing on the talent of young Lebanese, Egyptian, Tunisian, Algerian and Moroccan translators from Human and Social Sciences (SHS).

Led by Radio France's Thierry Riera, SDL's "Web-radio workshop" will give high school students and teachers the chance to create a web-radio broadcast.

A dozen librarians from the Lebanese Public Reading Network, working in collaboration with Lebanon's Culture Ministry, will conduct workshops with youngsters in French and Arabic.

Students from more than 25 universities around the Middle East have been invited to participate in a young writers competition, being held in collaboration with the Francophone Agency for Universities (AUF) and the Goncourt Academy. Journalist and writer Najwa Barakat will evaluate the work and announce the winners on Oct. 30.

"Young Lebanese Critics," another youth-oriented event held in collaboration with the French language department of the FI will see 200,000-odd public and private school students introduced to numerous writers attending the fair.

Authors unveiling their books at SDL include former Telecommunications Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui, who will sign copies of his "Life with Open Hands" and share his thoughts on writing.

Novelist, poet and journalist Joumana Haddad will read extracts from "The Escape," alongside poet Akl Awit.

Among the new faces introduced at SDL will be Zeina Kassem, whose book recounts her devastation at the loss of her 17-year-old son Talal, in a 2010 car accident. Having created the NGO Roads For Life, she has now published the whole story under the title "The Crossing."

Among the many authors at SDL to unveil their works will be Egyptian writer Robert Solé, with his sixth novel, "Hotel Mahrajane." Situated in the Mediterranean port of Nari - a cosmopolitan city separated from the capital by a desert - hotel residents, Muslim, Christian and Jew, find his or her place.

After his novel "The Homeless" won the Young Arab Literature Prize in 2013, Jabbour Douaihy has returned to SDL with "The American neighborhood." Written in Arabic, the novel is a rich depiction of life in Tripoli.

One of the five most-read French authors of all time, and the most-read writer of francophone police procedurals in 2014, novelist Michel Bussi has authored such titles as "Code Lupin, Omaha Crimes," which won the Prix Sang d'encre, and "Black Water Lilies," winner of the Michel-Lebrun Polar Prize, the Guztave Flubert Grand Prize, among others. Bussi will be at SDL to share writing tips and ideas at an open conference on Oct. 29.

"The book is free," remarked UBI president Naufal. "With the book, we are free. We live free and we remain free."

Salon du Livre will be staged at the Beirut International Exhibition and Leisure center from Oct. 24. For more information, see http://salondulivrebeyrouth.org/