On the evening of Monday 27 May 2024, the activities of the Third Annual Open Book Fair, organised by the Syriac Library of the Kurdistan Regional Government’s General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts for the period from 25 to 27 May in Erbil Governorate’s Ankawa district, concluded.
The last day of activities began with an educational and entertaining section dedicated to children presented by the Sinbad Book Library, followed by signing ceremonies for the book “Iraqi Christians… A Study of their Parliamentary Activities during the Royal Era, 1925-1958” by Dr. Ammar Yousif Abdullah. This was moderated and presented to the audience by writer Peter Nabati, with the participation of Dr. Ammar Youssef Abdullah and former Iraqi Parliament Member Yonadam Yousif Kanna.
After the book signing ceremony, the Mosulite Roots band performed a song that entertained the audience, followed by a dialogue session moderated by critic Sabah Hormuz and in which novelist and writer Ahmed Al-Saadawi, novelist and writer Ali Badr, and storyteller and novelist Amjad Tawfiq participated. This focused on “Representations of Christian Characters in Iraqi Novels.”
Following that, a signing ceremony took place for the book “Diary of an Iraqi in the Land of the Cedars” by researcher Samer Elias Said, which was moderated and presented to the audience by visual artist Lina Oghanna. After that, the Fair concluded its activities, which lasted for three consecutive days, with another singing performance by the Mosulite Roots band, which entertained the attendees, while the audience interacted with them through popular heritage dances performed by members of the General Directorate of Syriac Culture and Arts’s Syriac Arts Ensemble.
It is worth noting that the Third Annual Open Book Fair was held from May 25 to 27, and its activities included dialogue sessions, as well as various artistic and singing performances. The Fair also witnessed the signing of four new books during its three days of activities.
