It was just another day of stacking books for Moroccan Yacine Retnani, a book-shop owner in Casablanca, when he received a call inviting him to represent his country as the guest of honour at the Paris Book Fair.

Taking over his family business of 33 years, Retnani, has been the owner of Le Carrefour des Livres, a small French bookshop, in his childhood town for over 10 years.

“For the very first time, a local book shop is representing the country chosen as the guest of honour at the book fair. I am very proud to be here and happy to get the chance to break all stereotypes about Morocco by giving the French people the chance to see the country’s authors, literature and rich and diverse history and culture,” Retnani told Gulf News during the opening of the fair.

He pointed out that with only a month to design the booth at the fair and transfer most of the books from his shop in Morocco, Retnani, along with a team of eight, worked around the clock to make sure they were ready for the book fair’s official opening on March 24.

The booth displayed over 6,000 books, mostly in French, with a selection of Arabic and English titles.

“We arrived in Paris on Monday, installed the booth on Tuesday with the help of a French-Moroccan architect, and here we are two days later, at the Paris Book Fair,” said Retnani, standing in the middle of the fair’s largest booth.

He emphasised the beauty of bringing the two countries- France and Morocco- together through the culture of reading, pointing out the he is in the middle of what he loves most — books.

“It is important to highlight the connection between the two countries with so many people being French-Moroccan and enjoying two rich cultures. We want to take this chance to show the west that we are cool, open-minded people, who are also in love with literature. What the media shows about the Arab World is not true, and today, we have 450 square metres to show this,” he added.

During the fair, the Moroccan stand saw over 90 authors who took part in book signings, discussions and debates. “There were 34 Moroccan authors who were officially invited to the fair, and more than 50 who will visit the booth to talk to guests about their books and the Moroccan culture,” said Retnani.

He referred to two areas in the booth, where authors carried out debate sessions, discussing everything from literature to, poetry and politics.

“For those who also know Morocco for its Kous-Kous dishes and Tajeen, we also have the best Moroccan food-catering company selling some delicious traditional meals at the fair,” added Retnani.

The Paris Book Fair featured Morocco as the guest of honour in 2017 for the first time since its launch in 1988. With 1,200 exhibitors, representing 45 countries, the book fair held around 800 talks and events with 3,000 authors taking part in book signings. Inviting over 30,000 professionals in the publishing and trade field, France’s largest book event expects to see more than 155,000 visitors this year.

source : gulfnews