By Mark Garcia-Prats

At the Virgin Megastore in Saudi Arabia, four women authors were signing copies of their newest books for devoted fans. Though this event might not seem newsworthy to many of us in established book markets, book signings are truly rare in Saudi Arabia. Signings by women…rarer still.

(Of course, as with most everywhere else in the world, women drive the book market in Saudi. Perhaps the most trafficked libraries in the Kingdom is the Women’s and Children’s division of the King Abdulaziz Public Library in Riyadh.)

The event was organized by the Saudi Word Association, whose goal is “to promote cultural and intellectual discourse in Saudi society and support new talents.” Dr. Amal Shata, one of the authors at the event signing copies of her newest book Always Love, told Arab News, “The idea of having a book-signing event, which is not very common in Saudi Arabia, is a good idea to promote a new literary work, especially that book marketing itself is a burgeoning field here.”

Photo credit Arab News

Story via Arabic Literature (in English).