This year’s Muscat International Book Fair (23) has witnessed withdrawing and banning some Omani books. The researcher and writer Said Alhashmi was the more affected by the banned of the books. Despite the fact that his books were available at the beginning of the Fair, the Fair’s management took off the books later without giving reasons. These books were:
Arrabi’ Alomani (Articles)
Ta’wibat al-Zill (Novel)
Yasmine Alghiab (Writings)
Oman: Alenasan Wa’sulta (Writings)
Other books were banned this year because of their contents which talk about the protests which happened in 2011 in Oman, these books were:
Amamat Alaskar (Short Stories) -writer Hamood Saoud
Allathi La Yoheb Jamal Abdulnasser (Novel) -writer Suliman Al-Mammari
Emra’ah Tadhaku Fi Ghair Awaneha (Novel) – Nabhan Al-Hanshi
Khattab baina Ghyabat Alqaber (Novel) – Mohammed Al-Fazari
Alkhaleej Fi Zaman Alcolera (Articles) – Zaher Almahrooqi
Ma Latha Belholom (Stories) – Nasser Alghelani
Other Books were banned:
Hitan Sharifa (Novel) – Mohammed Saif Al-Rahbi, Haudh Alshahwat (Novel) – writer Mohammed Al-Yahyaee, Arroula (Novel) – Youssef Alhaj, Ferjar Alraei (Writings) – Saleh Al-Amri, W’akheran Nataqa Alheza (Short Stories) – Maher Azzedjali, Samahani (Novel) – Abdulaziz Baraka, Makran, Oman and Zanzibar (History) – Beatrice Nicoloni, Alshe’r Almuqdas – Zakria Almuhrami, Alme’raj – Amna Alrabei.
OCHR-Oman indicates that some publishers decided to not participate in this year’s Book Fair because of the bad experiment that they experienced at previous fairs.
OCHR-Oman deplores this unexplained and unacceptable attack against writers and authors in Oman and demands the security authority to take its hands off the literary activities and to protect writers’ rights.
