Visiting the Sharjah International Book Fair for the first time was far more than a professional trip. It felt like stepping into a city where culture is not just celebrated, but lived. As both a literary agent and a bookseller, I expected inspiration; what I found was something deeper, something almost profound: a society that holds books at the very heart of its identity.
Sharjah is not simply a backdrop for a book fair. It is a cultural ecosystem, a place that has spent decades investing in the belief that knowledge, art, and storytelling are the foundations of a thriving society. You feel it immediately.
In the architecture.
In the museums and galleries.
In the libraries that invite you in.
In the conversations with people of all ages who speak about reading with passion.
Sharjah has earned its title as UNESCO’s World Book Capital because here, culture isn’t decorative, it is essential. The vision of His Highness Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi has shaped an emirate where enlightenment, education, and heritage sit at the centre of public life. This leadership has created an atmosphere where books flourish, where the arts are respected, and where the simple act of reading is seen as both personal enrichment and civic responsibility.
And then there is the fair itself, a celebration that brings together families, children, teachers, publishers, authors and cultural leaders from around the world. Unlike many industry-led fairs, Sharjah blends the global book trade with genuine community engagement. It is vast, energetic, joyful, and deeply rooted in the idea that stories matter. The children are visibly excited to be there.
For DHH Literary Agency, this visit opened doors to countries we haven’t reached from London or Frankfurt. Sharjah gathers publishers, translators, festival programmers, and cultural organisations from across the Middle East, North Africa, South Asia and beyond, regions bursting with new readerships, new markets, and new opportunities.
For our authors, it means:
• Access to new territories and new readers
• Dialogue with publishers actively seeking English-language fiction
• Meaningful translation opportunities
• Relationships with cultural institutions who value storytelling as deeply as we do
Sharjah makes you realise that the book world is far larger, richer, and more diverse than the Western markets we often default to. There is a hunger here for narrative, for connection, for shared ideas, and it is exciting to offer our writers the chance to be part of that.
Wearing both identities at once, the agent advocating for authors and the bookseller championing books as beautiful, physical objects, made my experience especially powerful.
Goldsboro has always believed in the artistic and emotional value of the book. In Sharjah, that belief feels completely understood. Books aren’t simply purchased; they are honoured, collected, gifted, valued. The appreciation for story and craft mirrors our ethos so naturally that it felt, at moments, like looking into a cultural mirror.
My first visit to Sharjah Book Fair will not be my last. It has already begun opening opportunities for our clients at DHH that are genuinely exciting, and it has connected Goldsboro to a community that understands, instinctively, the magic of the book as both an object and an idea.
But more than that, Sharjah reminded me why I fell in love with books in the first place.
Because stories connect us.
Because culture shapes us.
Because reading, when held with this level of respect, becomes a force for good.
Sharjah lives that belief every day.
As we launch our Go All In campaign in the UK, a campaign encouraging readers and non-readers alike to rediscover the life-changing joy of books, I can’t help but think of what Sharjah embodies so profoundly.
A society that values reading is a society that believes in its future.
A culture that prioritises books is a culture that invests in imagination, empathy, and understanding.
My hope is that we, as a country, can take inspiration from Sharjah’s example: to place books and reading at the centre of our cultural life, to nurture curiosity from childhood, and to celebrate stories not just as entertainment but as part of who we are.
If Sharjah shows us anything, it is that when a nation chooses to go all in on reading, extraordinary things happen.
Visiting the Sharjah International Book Fair for the first time was far more than a professional trip. It felt like stepping into a city where culture is not just celebrated, but lived. As both a literary agent and a bookseller, I expected inspiration; what I found was something deeper, something almost profound: a society that holds books at the very heart of its identity.
