Entertainment · Books & Arts · 17 hrs ago
Sharjah book fair authors defend human experience in literature
The 45th Sharjah International Book Fair opened on November 4 in the United Arab Emirates, bringing together 2,673 publishers and exhibitors from 124 countries, with Oman as guest of honour.
Writers at the fair say literature depends on human experience that artificial intelligence cannot provide.
Emirati writer Ali Abu Al-Reesh compared AI-generated work to a lifeless body, while Kuwaiti novelist Saud Al Sanousi said readers value a creator’s life and accumulated experience.
Moroccan academic Said Yaktine urged writers to embrace modernity while staying connected to everyday life and cultural roots.
Authors also described literature as a form of resistance and a keeper of memory, not a luxury.
Abu Al-Reesh said novels should dig into reality and give voice to the stories people carry within them.
Authors at the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair argued that literature draws on human experience in ways artificial intelligence cannot reproduce.
The fair began on November 4 under the theme “Made of Stories.”
The event brought together 2,673 publishers and exhibitors from 124 countries, with Oman as Guest of Honour.
Authors also described literature as a form of resistance and a way to reflect and drive social change.
- Who
- Authors and literary figures gathered at the Sharjah International Book Fair, including Ali Abu Al-Reesh, Saud Al Sanousi and Said Yaktine.
- What
- They defended the importance of human experience and imperfection in literature amid the growing use of artificial intelligence.
- When
- The fair began on November 4, 2026. The article was published on November 9, 2026.
- Where
- Sharjah Expo Centre, Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
- Why
- The authors said technology lacks the lived experience they consider fundamental to art and literature.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The 45th Sharjah International Book Fair began.
Moroccan academic Said Yaktine received the fair's Cultural Personality of the Year recognition.
- Edition
- 45th Sharjah International Book Fair
- Theme
- Made of Stories
- Start date
- November 4, 2026
- Publishers and exhibitors
- 2,673 from 124 countries
- Guest of Honour
- Oman
What people are saying
The AI gives you a corpse that has no life
The novel is not a luxury or a consumption, but an existential necessity
You don't buy only a painting, you buy the creator's life and accumulated experience; the same thing happens with literature
The true novelist, in my opinion, must return to authentic patterns of life