36^th Tunis International Book Fair has been held at Exhibitions Palace in El-Karam area in Tunis with the motto, “Books are the best friends.” Tunisian writer Asiyah Bin Ramadan, who attended the fair, advised young people to read books to discover different worlds.

ZUHÛR EL-MEŞRIQÎ

Tunisia- 36th Tunis International Book Fair has been held at Exhibitions Palace in El-Karam area in Tunis with the motto, “Books are the best friends” since November 11. 300 publishing houses from 20 countries attended the fair. People can visit the book fair until November 21. The people visiting the book fair can join the cultural program, including conferences, symposia, and readings.

She attends the fair with her “Fifth Chord” novel

Tunisian writer Asiyah Bin Ramadan attended the book fair with her novel named “الوتر الخامس (Fifth Chord)”. We spoke to her at the book fair. Her novel Fifth Chord tells the stories of Arab Muslim people struggling between their own identity and foreign thoughts.

 “Support for writers is insufficient”

Speaking on the reality of Tunisian female writers, Asiyah Bin Ramadan complained that the Tunisian state doesn’t encourage women. “We need a new style, enlightened ideas, and even critiques to reveal the reality in Tunisia. I think the support given to both female and male writers is insufficient.”

“Books are the best friends”

Stating that there is no difference between female and male writers, Asiyah Bin Ramadan said, “Women don’t have to be skilled and explicatory in writing about the topics that concern them. For instance, Qasim Amin was a male writer and he wrote about women’s issues and managed to express the feelings of women.” Asiyah Bin Ramadan underlined the low participation of young people in the book fair, “This shows that young people don’t read books. Books are the best friends. Young people should read books to discover different worlds.”

“Women have no right”

Expressing her thoughts on the reality of Tunisian women, Asiyah Bin Ramadan said, “We hear much news about violence against women, mothers, and sisters. Women don’t have a safe life. Women are deprived of many things. They are paid very low wages even though they work at the workplace and home. We can say that women have no right.”