Martyr Herekol Book Fair opens its doors in Qamishlo

The 8th Martyr Herekol Book Fair was opened in Qamishlo on October 15 with the participation of 54 publishing houses displaying 143,000 books. The fair will end on October 22.

EBÎR MUHEMED

Qamishlo- The 8th Martyr Herekol Book Fair was opened in the Qamishlo Canton of North and East Syria on October 15 with the motto, “Let’s make reading a lifestyle”. The fair attracting great interest will end on October 22.

The fair has been held in Qamishlo since 2017 in the memory of writer Herekol (Hasan Çavuş), who was held in prison in Türkiye for more than 15 years and died in his hometown, Derik, on July 19, 2016.

54 publishing houses and 143,000 books

54 publishing houses from four parts of Kurdistan, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Belgium, the UK, Egypt, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have been participating in the fair, displaying more than 143,000 books in Kurdish (Kurmanji and Sorani), Arabic, Turkish, English, Russian, French, Syriac, Armenian, French and German. At the fair, the publishing houses offer a 25% discount for women’s books.

 ‘We spreading women’s science through the fair’

The nine issues of the Afaq Almaraa (Women's Horizon) Magazine, an Arabic magazine published in Rojava, have been also displayed at the fair. “The fair is a historical opportunity for the magazine, written and published by women,” said Nergiz Ismail, one of the editors of the magazine. “Many books written by women have been displayed at the fair. We find a chance to spread women's science, thoughts and development through the fair.”

Great interest in Jineology magazine

At the fair, the booth of the Jineology magazine exhibiting its issues in Kurdish, Arabic and Turkish is one of the booths attacking the interest of visitors. “The interest in the magazine makes us happy,” said Rojîn Îbîş, a member of the Jineology Academy. “Both women and men show great interest in the issues of the magazine.”

Book of Nagihan Akarsel

The book entitled “Kül Kokusu (English: Smell of Ashes)” written by Nagihan Akarsel, a journalist, writer and member of Jineology Academy who was killed in Sulaymaniyah on October 4, 2022, is also displayed at the booth of the Jineology magazine. “We display her book because we want our friend Nagihan to be with us,” said Rojîn Îbîş.