Week in Brief 04.05.2018

Tehran International Book Fair, the largest cultural event in Iran, was inaugurated on Wednesday, May 2. In 2018, 1900 Iranian and 149 foreign publishers from 21 countries participated. What can distinguish Tehran Book Fair from other international book fairs, is that it looks rather like an annual big sale. In 2016, nearly five million people visited it and 40 million USD books were sold in ten days. In comparison, in 2017, 286 thousand people visited the Frankfurt Book Fair, the world’s largest trade fair for books.

Iranian publishing industry in 1393 (March 2014-2015) was worth 290 million Euro. Translation makes more than a third of the Iranian book market, almost equal to compilation. Prayer books, like Qoran, and educational supplementary readings, together make about 35% of the total publishing market.

Related article: Leggere Calvino ed Eco a Teheran