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This post originally appeared at the blog.

After twenty-some-odd hours of travel (including a twelve-hour flight in a seat with a busted entertainment center that kept restarting and restarting as if it was possessed), IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™m here in Abu Dhabi, at the Book Fair, waiting for the opening ceremony. Along with Ed Nawotka, IÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™ll be blogging all week about the goings-on here at the fair, including posts about the two big literary awards celebrated during the fair (Ed will be posting about yesterdayÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s International Prize for Arabic Fiction ceremony shortly), the various educational programs, facts and figures about the Arabic book market, etc.

This yearÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s fair is the largest to date, with 637 exhibitors from 52 different countriesÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”a substantial increase from last yearÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™s fair, which featured 482 exhibitors from 42 countries. Some of the countries represented for the first time include Australia, Korea, Italy, and Austria. As a result, the overall exhibition space increased by 14%.

I havenÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½™t had much of a chance to walk around the fair, but the convention centerÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”like much of Abu DhabiÌÇÐÄ´«Ã½”is quite impressive with a cavernous entrance hallway and clean, well-organized booths. More to come after the opening ceremony.