Book fair kicks off amid concern over sharp decline in sales

The Tirana Times publishing house and the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) are also participating in the book fair with a joint stand in the first floor of the exhibition area with dozens of book titles.
TIRANA, Nov. 13 – The 17th edition of the Tirana book fair, the largest book event bringing together Albanian publishing houses, kicked off this week amid concerns that book sales have dropped by as much as 40 percent and that many bookshops are being closed down.
Petrit Ymeri, the head of the Albanian Association of Publishers, says that emergency policies are needed to support books.
“This year has been among the most difficult for the book business. We are all witnesses that this year has not been easy for Albanian households and that the road to bookshops has been tough. In addition, we have been working with a 50 percent increase in profit tax and what complicates matters most is that informality and piracy continue remaining at high levels,” said Ymeri.
The head of the Association also denounces this year’s lack of financial support by the Culture Ministry to the annual book fair.
Some 100 publishing houses from Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro are participating in the 17th edition of the Tirana book fair, the largest book event bringing together Albanian-speaking publishers.
The Association of Albanian Publishers, which organizes the event, says this year’s event scheduled to be held from November 12 to 16 will be dedicated to the 200th anniversary of the Albanian- Italian writer Jeronim de Rada.
The Tirana Times publishing house and the Albanian Institute for International Studies (AIIS) are also participating in the book fair with a joint stand in the first floor of the exhibition area with dozens of book titles.
In last year’s edition, Luljeta Lleshanaku was announced the “Author of the Year” in the 2013 Tirana book fair, grabbing the most important award of the book fair bringing together some 100 Albanian-speaking publishers. Lleshanaku, 45, was awarded the prize for her latest collection of poetry called “Pothuajse Dje” (Almost Yesterday).
Organizers said some 100,000 people visited the Tirana book last year and some 600,000 books were sold during the five-day event which offered discounts of 20 to 30 percent.