The Greek Ambassador to Egypt Mr. Nikolaos Garilidis described his country’s participation in the 53rd edition of Cairo International Book Fair (CIBF) as a guest of honor as “a great opportunity to share the Greek and European culture with Egyptians”, noting Greece’s strong presence at the cultural venues in Egypt.
Speaking to Sada Elbald English (See), the Greek envoy revealed that the Greek pavilion at the CIBF, about to be opened at New Cairo’s Egypt’s International Exhibitions Center (EIEC), is dedicated to all book lovers. The pavilion will host a number of seminars, workshops, exhibitions, readings, and interactive courses.
When asked if the Greek people are interested in Egypt’s book market, Garilidis told See: “We are keen to participate in CIBF every year and look forward to bringing Greek literature closer to the people of Egypt as well as the Arab world and exploring ways to foster communication between Greek bookmakers and publishers and their counterparts in the Egypt book market.”
Our pavilion proposes a selection of books written by renowned Greek authors or published by our international publishing companies.
Asked how can the Cairo Book Fair will contribute to the cultural ties between Egypt and Greece, Garilidis replied: “The symposiums and workshops will focus on the influence of culture on political solidarity, which both countries’ leaderships seek to achieve in a bid to resume the solid and deep-rooted ties between the two countries.”
“This significant cultural venue will probably contribute to enhancing knowledge exchange and the cross-cultural dialogue between the two Mediterranean countries.”
“In Egypt’s literature, I admire Naguib Mahfouz, and Taha Hussain,” he answered the question of “What have you been hearing about Egyptian literature and who is considered the greatest Egypt’s novelist?”
