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Saudi Arabia, guest of honour at Algiers book fair, brings translation, poetry and heritage

6 November 2026 · Algeria Now

Saudi Arabia, guest of honour at Algiers book fair, brings translation, poetry and heritage — Photo : lh3.googleusercontent.com (adresse collée)

As the 29th Algiers International Book Fair (SILA) enters its final days, Saudi Arabia, this year's guest of honour, is using its pavilion to showcase literature, translation and the arts. The fair, held at the Palais des Expositions in the Pins Maritimes district, closes on Saturday 7 November.

On Wednesday, the Saudi Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission displayed works at the pavilion, including "Stories from Saudi Arabia", a collection by Saudi authors, alongside graphic novels and manga by Saudi writers. The commission also presented Tarjim, an initiative that supports translation into and out of Arabic and connects Saudi publishers with international publishers, literary agents and authors. The Saudi delegation includes representatives of heritage, culinary arts, fashion, architecture, design and film, and the programme features panel discussions, poetry evenings and sessions with writers and poets.

SILA is among the largest book fairs on the African continent and a fixture of Algeria's cultural calendar. This year more than 1,500 publishers were expected, and the Saudi presence reflects warming cultural ties between the two countries. President Abdelmadjid Tebboune received the Saudi culture minister on 3 November, and Algeria's Culture Minister Malika Bendouda held talks with him on the same day.

Translation is a theme that resonates in Algeria, where writers work in Arabic, French and Tamazight and where debates about which languages carry the country's memory are long-standing. Initiatives that open Arabic literature to other languages, and bring other literatures into Arabic, therefore find an attentive audience among Algerian publishers and readers.

Alongside the Saudi programme, visitors have found new Algerian titles on history, memory and Palestine, a reminder that the fair remains a place where the country's anticolonial heritage and its solidarity with the Palestinian people are discussed openly.

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