The Book Fair starts at the Palace of Congresses, five days of activities, meetings and discussions on the challenges facing books and reading

New book titles, various publications, meetings and discussions on the challenges facing books and reading at the Book Fair in Tirana. "The book unites us all" is the motto of the 26th edition of the Book Fair, which started this Wednesday at the Palace of Congresses. Returning to tradition, the key ceremony brought together publishers, authors, readers, leaders of the Publishers' Association, etc. in the Palace of Congresses. During the opening ceremony, the chairman of the Albanian Publishers' Association, publisher Petrit Ymeri, greeted the publisher, who pointed out the contribution of publishers in the cultural sector, considering the traditional fair of Tirana as another opportunity to be as close to the readers as possible. "Readers are the subject and object of this fair, without them we would not be able to do it," he said among other things. The Minister of Culture Elva Margariti pointed out the importance of the Book Fair in Tirana. According to her, the fair has become a meeting where the book is the meeting point. "This is a meeting that is increasingly enlivening not only the artistic life of Tirana, but it has become a meeting between generations, between professionals. A meeting was held where the book is the point of meeting and dialogue", said Minister Elva Margariti. A real institution, the director of the National Library, Piro Misha, called the fair, and the young writer Andreas Dushi considered it an opportunity for all authors in his speech.

The fair is a long-awaited event

The fair is a long-awaited event by every publisher, author, translator, etc. Publisher Frano Kulli from the publishing house "Gjergj Fishta" says that this fair, as in every year, new publications are on the stands for readers. "The most valuable is Ndre Mjeda, the literary work in two volumes. Complete edition, which is being published for the first time", says publisher Kulli. The Book Fair is five days full of promotions, invited authors, meetings and discussions on the challenges facing books and reading, but amid the debates about whether Albanians read or not, the main challenge for publishers remains to bring readers closer to the book. Publisher Frano Kulli says that the book should go to the reader. "Approaching the readers is the most important thing. In the end, the book does not go to the reader for what it should be", said Kulli. Some of the foreign guests participating in the various activities at the 26th Book Fair include the French footballer Lilian Thuram, the prominent Italian translator Ilide Carmignani, the Italian writer Alessio Puleo, the Italian writer Viola Ardone, etc. Today, on the second day, the Association of Publishers organizes a seminar about the problems of translating literature for children and teenagers into Albanian. The Italian translator Ilide Carmignani is also invited to this seminar. This year, the fair is attended by 95 exhibitors, publishing houses, institutions of higher education and others that work with the book. As for publishing houses from other Albanian territories, stands from Kosovo prevail at the Book Fair. The Book Fair in its 26th edition, which started yesterday at the Palace of Congresses, will continue until November 19. The first book fair in Tirana was the "Tirana 1998" fair, organized at the International Cultural Center in Tirana from December 16 to 20, 1998.