Thursday, July 05, 2007

Lebanon in 2009

UNESCO has announced that Beirut has been named World Book Capital 2009, “in light of its focus on cultural diversity, dialogue and tolerance, and of its diverse and stimulating programme.” On its path to this distinction, Beirut beat out Bangkok, Thailand; Cape Town, South Africa and Kazan, Russian Federation.

A World Book Capital has been selected annually since 2001 and runs from World Book and Copyright Day (April 23rd) until April 22nd of the following year.

Host cities are decided on by the International Publishers Association, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions and the International Booksellers Federation. According to Wikipedia, this ensures “the three major branches of the book industry can participate in the decision.”

Since inception, the list of World Book Capital cities looks like this: Madrid (2001); Alexandria (2002); New Delhi (2003); Antwerp (2004); Montreal (2005); Turin (2006); Bogotá (2007) and Amsterdam (2008).

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