33rd Tehran International Book Fair kicks off

on May 11, 2022

The motto of the 33rd edition of the Book Fair, which runs through May 21 at Imam Khomeini Mosalla, is "With Reading, We Feel Healthy."

A virtual edition of the event is also available on ketab.ir.

The book exhibition, which is hosting Qatar as a special guest, is attended by 170 publishers from 32 countries, including Switzerland, India, Hong Kong, Germany, the United States, Italy, China, and Russia.

"Due to its deep cultural ties with Iran, Qatar was chosen as the fair's special guest, and this exhibition will be a promising start to future cultural partnerships with the country," said Mohammad-Mehdi Esmaeili, Iran's Minister of Culture and Islamic Guidance.

Unlike other international book fairs, the Tehran book fair functions as a large bookstore where domestic publishers can sell their works at a reduced price.

This strategy has resulted in the cancellation of the Tehran book expo this year by a number of Iranian online book platforms and publishers. They contend that this regulation would harm book sales during other times of the year and could lead to retail and platform closures.

Yaser Ahmadvand, the Deputy Culture Minister for Cultural Affairs, has acknowledged the protest and offered plans by the Culture Ministry to assist retailers and platforms after the book fair ends.