The 2026 Warsaw International Book Fair, which will take place from 28 to 31 May at PGE Narodowy Stadium, welcomes the Emirate of Sharjah as Guest of Honour (GoH). Readers as well as cultural enthusiasts will enjoy a close encounter with the literature and culture of Sharjah and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as the emirate’s GoH programme paves the way for intercultural understanding and dialogue through words.

The Guest of Honour programme is led by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), a leading  institution established under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, and is chaired by Her Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi. Both visionary leaders will visit Warsaw alongside a delegation of UAE’s celebrated writers and creators.

Sharjah’s GoH programme motto ‘Two civilizations. One language of letters’ highlights the visual similarities and a shared sense between Polish and Arabic, and celebrates the common grounds and connections between the two cultures despite the seeming differences that meet the eye. The motto’s design beautifully illustrates this idea by showcasing letters from the two cultures that stand side by side to convey one unified message. This resemblance creates a link between them, as if forming a ‘story’ that brings them together. The concept highlights that some letters from both civilizations share visual similarities, reflecting a cultural connection and transforming the letters into a shared language that unites them.

Sharjah spared no effort to make a mark on this year’s Warsaw International Book Fair, given the breadth and depth of its literary and cultural agenda and the impressive list of institutions and artists invited to attend.

The audience can look forward to meeting a group of distinguished personalities representing various generations and movements of contemporary Emirati literature: poets, scholars, and cultural figures whose work, while deeply rooted in tradition, lends itself to international dialogue. Guest of Honour delegation will include Dr. Sultan Al-Ameemi – an Emirati critic, poet, researcher and storyteller; the president of Emirates Writers Union and the Director of Arabic Poetry Academy; author of novels, short stories, and numerous research papers.

Warsaw will also host Dr. Hind Al-Mashmoum, a writer and researcher in Arabic language and literature who combines academic work with literary criticism and insights on language and cultural identity. Contemporary Emirati poetry will be represented by Khulood Al-Mualla, a poet whose work, permeated by Sufism, has been translated into many languages; and by Kaltham Abdullah, a poet and writer who blends humanism with the themes of memory, heritage and women’s issues. Some of the guests are well-known for their media presence and prominent public engagement, including Dhaen Shaheen Al-Nuaimi, a journalist, poet, novelist and former long-standing Editor-in-Chief of ‘Al Bayan’ newspaper, and Salha Ghabish, a poet, writer and cultural activist who launched and supervised many literary and community initiatives. Abdulrahman Al-Hemeiri (crowned ‘Prince of Poets’), Nadia Al-Najjar (author of novels, short stories, and children’s literature) and Dr. Habib Ghuloom (academic and theatre artist, director, and drama researcher) have successfully combined literary achievements with other lines of work. The Emirati delegation is complete with Dr. Abdul Hakim Al-Zubaidi, a poet, researcher and author of literary studies, and Sheikha Al-Mutairi, a poet, researcher and cultural moderator recognized with several awards for poetry.

The guests will debate topics of artistic and intellectual developments in contemporary literature; the evolution of women’s stories; the diversity of human experiences in fiction; questions of identity, memory and modernity. Another highlight is a selection of poetry readings with shared insights from the poetic traditions of the two cultures. Thanks to partnership between the SBA and the organisers of Warsaw International Book Fair, Emirati guests will often share the stage with Polish writers, academics and moderators, including Ałbena Grabowska, Barbara Kosmowska, Grażyna Plebanek, Wit Szostak and Sebastian Gadomski, to name but a few. The following themes are on the agenda: ‘Women’s Stories in Emirati and Polish Literature’ (with Grażyna Plebanek and Dr Hind Al-Mashmoum); ‘The Diversity of Human Experiences in Emirati and Polish Fiction’ (with Wit Szostak and Dhaen Shaheen Al-Naimi); ‘The Art of Storytelling through Narrative Experiences from the UAE and Poland’ (with Ałbena Grabowska and Sheikha Al-Mutairi); ‘Children’s Literature in the United Arab Emirates and Poland: Between Innovation and Renewal’ (with Barbara Kosmowska and Nadia Al-Najjar); ‘Emirati and Polish Theatre: An Overview of its Foundations and Future Prospects’ (with Sebastian Gadomski and Dr Habib Ghuloum). The sessions will be moderated by Jerzy Kisielewski, Szymon Kloska, Marta Korycka and Blanka Katarzyna Dżugaj.

There will be events for the youngest members of the audience as well as discussions on children’s literature, new forms of Young Adult (YA) storytelling and the needs of young readers. Most events can be accessed directly at the fair venue, but some academic sessions with Emirati and Polish artists and researchers will be held at the University of Warsaw. They are co-organised by the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies at the Faculty of Asian and African Cultures and centred on topics such as literary translation, intercultural dialogue, and the role of literature and theatre in the contemporary world. With children in mind, special workshops will be set up at one of Warsaw’s libraries.

The 400-square-metre Guest of Honour pavilion (No 1/D11 ) will be populated with a line-up of 21 leading cultural, academic, and publishing institutions from Sharjah, representing the world of literature, education, media, and cultural heritage, including the Al Qasimi Publications, specialised in publishing the workpieces of Sheikh Dr. Sultan Bin Muhammad Al Qasimi; the Arabic Language Academy in Sharjah (ALA), dedicated to serving and promoting the Arabic language; and two universities: the University of Sharjah (UoS) and the American University of Sharjah (AUS) with AUS Press, which connect academia and knowledge seekers around the world. The Emirati book market will be represented by Sharjah Book Authority (SBA), Emirates Writers Union, Emirates Publishers Association (EPA), Emirates Library and Information Association (ELIA), the House of Wisdom in Sharjah, Emirates Reprographic Rights Management Association (ERRA), Sharjah Publishing City Free Zone, Sharjah Literary Agency and the UAE Board on Books for Young People (UAEBBY). Kalimat Group and Kalimat Foundation will promote children’s rights in the context of readership and access to books, and PublisHer platform will present the ideas for greater recognition and advancement of women in the publishing industry. The list of entities responsible for bringing Sharjah’s national heritage and cultural identity to Warsaw would not be complete without the Department of Culture in Sharjah, Dr. Sultan Al Qasimi Centre for Gulf Studies, the Sharjah Institute for Heritage, the Sharjah Archaeology Authority and the Sharjah Broadcasting Authority.

The exhibition space will double up as the stage for authors, experts, and representatives of cultural and academic institutions; a book-signing area; and an area for industry meetings and networking events for book market professionals. There will be access to information about literary translation support programmes and opportunities for collaboration with Emirati authors, publishers, and cultural institutions.

As an additional performative arts attraction, the Sharjah National Band has been invited with a programme of traditional Emirati music pieces and songs. The artists will give outdoor performances throughout Warsaw. A detailed agenda of literary, artistic and professional events will soon be posted on the website of the Warsaw International Book Fair.

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The organizers of the Warsaw International Book Fair, Fundacja Historia i Kultura and Projekt KSIĄŻKA Ltd. invite you to an online press conference

SHARJAH – GUEST OF HONOUR at the 2026 Warsaw International Book Fair Programme presentation

Participants:
Khoula Al Mujaini – Director of Events and Marketing, Sharjah Book Authority,
Jacek Oryl – Director of the Warsaw International Book Fair.

The conference will take place on Thursday, 23 April 2026 at 12:00 PM CET and will be held online (language – Polish).

It will be broadcast on:

The 2026 Warsaw International Book Fair, scheduled for May 28–31, is going to be held at a new venue: the PGE Narodowy Stadium, with Sharjah, an emirate of the United Arab Emirates, as the Guest of Honour. The Guest of Honour programme is organised by the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA).

The agreement was signed on 13 November 2025 during the International Book Fair in Sharjah. His Highness Ahmed bin Rakkad Al Ameri, Chairman of the Board, and Khoula Al Mujaini, Director of Activities & Marketing Department, participated in the ceremony on behalf of the Sharjah Book Authority. The Warsaw International Book Fair was represented by its Director, Jacek Oryl.

The upcoming Fair offers a unique opportunity to learn about Sharjah’s cultural heritage and its contemporary literary and publishing scene.

“Sharjah’s presence as Guest of Honour in Warsaw marks an exciting new chapter in our cultural journey, extending the bridges we have built across Europe to Central and Eastern Europe for the first time. Under the guidance of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, our Emirate has long believed in culture as a force for connection and understanding. Poland’s own history reflects a centuries-old relationship with Arab and Muslim civilisations. Through this participation, we are honoured to bring to Warsaw the depth and diversity of Emirati and Arab literature, art, cuisine, and creativity, celebrating the shared human values that unite our cultures”, said Her Highness Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA).

We are happy to announce that the applications for Warsaw International Book Fair 2026 are now open! Time to start preparing for your visit to Poland!

The upcoming Warsaw International Book Fair will take place on 28–31 May 2026. We have exciting news for you: next year, the Fair will be held at PGE Narodowy Stadium!

Highlights of the Warsaw International Book Fair:

• The best place to network with the Polish publishing industry
• Affordable rates for exhibitors, comfortable space for literary agents and a perfect place for B2B meetings
• Rich industry program during the Fair’s first two days
• Prime location in the heart of Warsaw
• Broad selection of domestic and international exhibitors
• Outstanding creators: writers, translators, and illustrators
• 2025 edition: The Republic of Korea as the Guest of Honour, 620 exhibitors from 20 countries, 1 000 authors, translators, illustrators, publishing industry actors and culture icons, 1 200 events, 90 B2B seminars, 300 journalists and 1 200 bloggers, 130,000 visitors and excellent direct sales figures
• Choice of diverse attractions for avid readers and industry professionals
• Unique and proven formula for an event that was first organized in Warsaw in May 1959, appreciated by participants from Poland and abroad
• Experienced and successful organiser.
• Join us to see more books by Polish authors and meet with publishers and agents in a new and exciting location!

The Warsaw International Book Fair is organised by the History and Culture Foundation and Projekt KSIĄŻKA Ltd.

We look forward to receiving your applications for participation at the Warsaw International Book Fair (28–31 May 2026).

Event terms and conditions and registration forms are available in our system:

More than 600 exhibitors and creators from Poland, the Republic of Korea, and 18 other countries participated in the largest literary fair event of the year.

More than 1,000 authors, translators, illustrators, and others involved in the industry and cultural world met with the public, including authors from the Republic of Korea, which was the Fair’s Guest of Honour.

More than 200 meetings were held on five stages and in seven halls, in addition to nearly 1,000 meetings at publishers’ booths – in total, more than 1,200 events took place over the course of four days.

We estimate that this year, despite the rainy weather, attendance at the Fair exceeded 130,000!

We would like to thank the publishers, authors of books, translations and illustrations, emcees, volunteers, and all visitors who took part in the international literary feast in the heart of Warsaw!

We congratulate the representatives of the Republic of Korea for their excellent appearance at the Fair, which won the hearts of lovers of Korean culture and literature in Poland and was met with lively interest and excellent reception by the general public of the Fair.

We would like to thank the honorary patrons of the Warsaw International Book Fair, especially the Marshal of the Senate Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska, the Mayor of the City of Warsaw Rafał Trzaskowski and the team of the City Hall Culture Office for their invaluable support and kindness of the City of Warsaw.

We would like to thank the partners of the Fair: Association of Authors ZAiKS, Committee for the Protection of Children’s Rights, Palace of Culture and Science, and Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw.

We thank the media patrons, among whom are: Polskie Radio, Onet, tvp.info, tvp3, Histmag.org, and rynek-ksiazki.pl.

We thank the organizers of the accompanying events, which were: Warsaw of Comics, Intergenerational Children’s Literature Festival – Fathers and Children, and Reportage Day with the Ryszard Kapuściński Award.

We invite you to the International Book Fair in Warsaw on May 28-31, 2026 – we will see you at PGE Narodowy!

Photo: Marcin Selerski

For literature that moves. For a presence that inspires.

Congratulations on an outstanding appearance at the Fair and thank you for the four-day Korean Literature Festival, which delighted us with the mastery of literary voices and the talent of translators who bring Korean literature to the Polish audience. We were honoured to host literary stars – authors whose works are in great demand around the world, and meetings with them were a real treat!

At the same time, we appreciate the diversity of the program, which – in addition to author meetings and autograph sessions – included lectures and discussions with distinguished literary scholars, translators and historians, artistic events, and tastings of Korean cuisine. The Guest of Honour’s diverse program made this event even more interesting and gave us a deeper understanding of Korean literature and culture.

We would like to thank the organizers of the event – the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Poland and the Korean Cultural Center in Poland, extending our gratitude to Mr. Dankweon Lee, director of the CKK and Ms. Suhye An, manager of literary programs of the CKK, for their trust, professionalism, openness, and cordiality!

We are grateful for the participation of the Korean publishing market delegation and the invaluable involvement of representatives of South Korea’s major state and cultural institutions: Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA), Literature Translation Institute of Korea (LTI Korea) and Korean Manhwa Promotion Agency (약칭: KOMACON). We hope that the visit to the Warsaw International Book Fair will result in new joint projects in the near future.

We would like to extend our gratitude to all domestic publishers. It is thanks to their passion, initiative, and effort that readers have the opportunity to discover the richness of contemporary Korean literature.

Thank you to all the creators and participants of the Korean Literature Festival at the fair for the unique atmosphere of this literary celebration. It was a time filled with excitement, dialogue and great interest in Korean culture and literature. We are glad you were with us – and we very much hope to see you at the Warsaw International Book Fair next year!

Photo: Marcin Selerski

At the opening ceremony of the Warsaw International Book Fair 2025 the prestigious award of the book community, the ICARUS Publishing and Bookselling Season Award, was presented. It was awarded to Father Adam Boniecki “for the wisdom and courage of written and spoken words, for sensitivity that knows no exclusion,” as stated in the justification.

During the traditional Exhibitors’ Evening, which was the culmination of the first day of the Fair, four more Icarus Award winners were honoured.

In the “publishing houses” category, the D2D.pl company from Krakow was honoured for its “long-standing editorial and training activities aimed at book designers and publishers.”

The second ICARUS in this category went to the publishing house “Literatura” from Lodz and its founder and editor-in-chief Wieslawa W. Jedrzejczykowa “for three decades of faithfulness to the word that teaches, moves and remains, for authors who open the imagination of young readers to emotion, truth and mystery.”

The ICARUS Award for the Promotion of Books and Readership named after Tadeusz Górny was given to Jerzy Kisielewski “for many years of promoting readership and literature on the airwaves of Polish Television, Polish Radio, Radio for You and at author meetings throughout Poland.”

Another ICARUS went to the editors of the Weekly Review (Tygodnik Przegląd) for “the constant presence of literature in the pages of the magazine, for the place where authors meet readers, for discussions, reviews, interviews and book excerpts.”

ICARUS Award is presented by Warsaw International Book Fair and the Polish Society of Book Publishers; funded by the Society of Authors ZAIKS.

On the first day of the Warsaw International Book Fair, the Republic of Korea – the fair’s guest of honour – hosted a meeting with the authors of the book “Korea. A New History of the South and the North”, which is a modern compendium of knowledge about Korea – both North and South. As the authors – Ramon Pacheco Pardo and Victor D. Cha – noted, previous studies have lost some relevance. This need for a fresher perspective has given rise to a book that describes Korea from the late 19th century to the present day. The country, which was divided between the great powers (Russia, China, Japan and the US), which experienced war and parts of which fell into the clutches of the communist regime, suffered many traumatic experiences. Victor Cha brought this picture closer, describing the shocking differences of life in North and South Korea. The authors also presented the most current events from both countries – North Korea’s support for Russian aggression against Ukraine, as well as the upcoming presidential election in South Korea.

On the first day of the Warsaw International Book Fair, a meeting was held with Prof. Giulio Tremonti, Italian politician and lawyer, former Minister of Finance and Minister of Economy.

The author of the book “Guerra o pace” thoroughly analysed new political phenomena in Europe, detailing events that, in his opinion, changed the course of history. He counted among them China’s entry into the international market and the emergence of the Internet. He paid particular attention to the process of globalization, which, in his opinion, although necessary, is proceeding too quickly, causing numerous political and social problems. He also compared European and U.S. policies, their interactions and outlook on trade. He also spoke about the threat posed by Russia under Vladimir Putin and the war in Ukraine.

Meetings with Italian authors at the Warsaw International Book Fair have been organised by the Italian Embassy and the Italian Cultural Institute in Warsaw, in collaboration with ITA – Italian Trade Agency.

The Association of Literary Translators and the Forum of Editors and Proofreaders initiated a meeting on cooperation on the line between translator and editor. Participants had a chance to get to know behind the scenes of editorial and translation work – on the example of the novel “Stoner” by John Williams. At the meeting with the participation of Justyna Zebrowska, editor, and Maciej Stroinski, translator, the role played by the editor of the text (so far unjustly marginalized) was emphasized, as well as numerous translation strategies were pointed out, especially concerning works translated into a given language more than once and numerous related perplexities, which were covered in a humorous and accessible manner.