With the 39^th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair having adopted a unique online-offline hybrid format in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) in collaboration with UAE’s Ministry of Education (MoE) organised virtual trips to SIBF 2020. The online sessions and awareness workshops offered young students the opportunity to meet with creative authors hosted at the event, on a special virtual platform via Microsoft Teams, from the comfort of their homes.

The platform hosted renowned authors including Iraqi writer Muhsen Al Ramli, Bahraini novelist Dalal Abdullah Yusuf, Emirati writers Nadia Al Najjar and Fatima Sultan Al Mazrouei, Elisabetta Dami from Italy and UK-based Miranda Malins, who spoke about their books and advised students on ways to improve their creative writing skills.

Jamal Ibrahim, MoE’s Media Centre official who oversees the platform, stressed that MoE and SBA launched the special virtual platform to engage school students with the fair’s events. Accordingly, educational events and awareness activities and webinars and panel sessions featuring prominent authors were held every day from 9:00 am to 4:30 pm.

More than 250 public and private schools from across the UAE participated in the varied cultural sessions of the 11-day SIBF that concluded on November 14. Ibrahim also added that the platform organised virtual trips for the students enabling them to tour the venue’s halls that showcased all genres of books and literary titles.