Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway visits book fair in Cairo

Crown Princess Mette-Marit of Norway was in Cairo, Egypt, to visit the Norwegian pavilion at an international book fair as the Guest of Honour.

The Crown Princess, a passionate advocate of reading, was accompanied by Egyptian Culture Minister Neveen Al-Kilany and Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide to the fair that sees several million visitors.

Speaking at the opening of the guest country programme, Mette-Marit said: “The Cairo International Book Fair is the most important book fair in the Arabic-speaking world, and it is a great privilege for Norway to have been invited as the Guest of Honour.”

She also spoke of how literature can help people see what they have in common, alluding to the refugee crisis at Egypt’s border and the conflicts in the Middle East.

“In difficult times like these, art, literature, and free speech enable us to better grasp all that we have in common. Reading about other people’s lives deepens our understanding, increases our capacity for empathy and shows us that others share our thoughts and feelings. The right to freely express opinions and ideas through literature, poetry and art lies at the heart of the right to freedom of expression,” she said.

Norway is one of the guest countries at the Cairo International Book Fair with hopes of promoting Norwegian literature in the Arab world and finding translators of Norwegian to Arabic. The book fair lasts 12 days and enables Norwegian authors to meet the public, attend lectures and gain a new audience.

Jostein Gaarder, Hanne Ørstavik, Bjørn Sortland, Nora Dåsnes and Karen Anne Buljo are some of the authors from Norway at the International Book Fair.

Crown Princess Mette-Marit is on a two-day visit to the Egyptian city alongside the Foreign Minister. They also met humanitarians who have recently worked in Gaza as the war between Hamas and Israel rages on.