As the weather in the UAE starts getting cooler in the month of November, book lovers from across the UAE and the region start flocking to Expo Centre Sharjah to feel firsthand the joys of seeing local and international authors in person. The 43rd edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) rolled out its red carpet on Wednesday. Held under the theme “It Starts With a Book,” the 12-day cultural extravaganza runs untill Nov.17. 2,520 publishers from 112 countries, along with 400 authors, will be gracing the event.
Thursday evening witnessed the presence of celebrated Pakistani author, screenwriter and columnist Amna Mufti, who regaled her audience with a very lively interactive session. A legion of fans from Pakistan, India and Arabs enjoyed her interesting talk. An epitome of elegance and grace, Amna enjoyed strolling around the book fair and her humility can be understood from the fact that while she was sauntering around, she exchanged smiles with each and every fan who came her way.
While talking to Gulf Today, she expressed, “This is my first visit to the Sharjah International Book Fair. The environment is very vibrant. All the volunteers are very vigilant and helpful. The ambience is amazing. Sessions are well organised. Stalls are well curated. I enjoyed being part of this event.”
Amna, who arrived from Pakistan to take part in the event, enjoyed interacting with her fans. Talking about her interaction she said, “So many fans were from Pakistan and they had already read many of my books.”
Talking about her relationship with her audience, she said, “I write what I want to write. I have created my own niche of audience. This is something a writer should do. I feel a writer should create his/her own audience so that readership is always very loyal. This is something that connects me with my audience. After graduating in Literature and Journalism, Amna began her career by writing novels, and soon forayed into screenwriting, having written over 25 TV serials by now. Her body of work has been met with acclaim and several awards, most notably the LUX Style award for best writer in 2014 and the Satha Gold award for her novel “Paani Mar Raha Hai.” She was also associated with BBC for six years.
“Aspiring writers should be ready to work hard. They should also read as many books as possible. They should write daily if not then twice a week. If you want to be a novelist then you have to be ready to work hard,” suggested the author.
Prose is time taking, so those who wish to be a novelist should have long breath, she added. When asked about the challenges books are facing in this digital era, she said, “Books have a challenge being books if you think of tomorrow. Paper making is affecting our environment, books will convert their shape. ebooks will definitely spell the future. But the art of storytelling will remain the same.”