Diyarbakır prepares for annual book fair

ISTANBUL - Hürriyet Daily News

Sebastien de Courtois

The third annual Diyarbakır Book Fair will take place May 22-27 at the TÜYAP Diyarbakır Fair and Congress Center. The event will host some 100 publishing houses and organizations, along with 300 writers, for 40 cultural events and signing days.

This year the fair will host two researchers and writers from France as its special guests. Sebastien de Courtois, an expert in the history of religions, will be at the fair on May 26. De Courtois, who mainly focuses on Middle Eastern Christians and their path through history, became interested in the history of Turabdin, a region in southeastern Turkey. At the fair he will speak about the Assyrians, and he will be available to sign his books.

The other guest of the fair will be the ethnically Kurdish researcher and academic Fawaz Husen, who is a member of the Swedish Writers’ Union, International PEN, and the French Writers Organization. He will give a speech titled “A Kurdish soul in a French body,” and have a book signing.

The fair will also feature exhibitions, including one showcasing the life story of late Turkish novelist, short-story writer, poet, and journalist Sabahattin Ali. Another exhibition will be titled “Cultural Diversity in Old Diyarbakır.” Curated by Osman Köker, the exhibit tells the lost story of Diyarbakır’s people.

The Netherlands, the honorary guest of the 31st Istanbul Book Fair, will also be the guest country for the Diyarbakır Book Fair.