The 2020 Muscat International Book Fair, now in its 25th edition, has once again seen many books by Omani writers seized and banned. Nearly 50 titles in literature, philosophy, politics and social studies were censored, most of them literary works by Omani authors, whether resident in Oman or living abroad.
Several of the participating publishing houses, such as Dar Soual and Dar Arab, published on their official Twitter accounts a list of the books that were banned or removed from the display shelves. Meanwhile the Omani Centre for Human Rights learned through its own sources of several books not being shown at the Book Fair even though some of them were listed on the exhibition website. Publishers said the reason they had not brought certain titles to the Fair was that they had been censored, as at previous editions of the event, or because the government in Oman was not happy with the activities of certain authors, especially those living abroad.
According to the exhibitors, these were the books censored this year:
| Author | Book(s) | Publisher |
| Said al-Hashimi (9 Books) | Wal-Shajar Idha Hawa (And if the trees should fall) | Dar Soual |
| Ma Tarakat-hu al-Zinzana lil-Warda (What the dungeon left for the rose) | Dar Soual | |
| Obaid al-Omani Hayya (Obaid al-Omani alive) (in conjunction with Sulaiman al-Maamari) | Dar Soual | |
| Ma min Rihla Illa wa Hiya Wida‘ (No journey but farewell) (contributing editor) | Dar Soual | |
| Al-Rabee‘ al-Omani (The Omani Spring) (contributing editor) | Dar Al-Farabi | |
| Al-Awtad (Pegs) | Dar Al-Farabi | |
| Yasmin ala al-Ghiyab (Yasmin on absence) | Dar Al-Intishar | |
| Oman: Al-Insan wal-Sulta (Oman: Man and power) | Centre for Arab Unity Studies | |
| Ta‘wibat al-Zill (The song of the shadow) | Dar Al Tanweer | |
| Ahmed al-Zubaidi (5 Books) | Intihar Obaid al-Omani (The suicide of Obaid al-Omani) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Nabsh al-Dhakira (Searching the memory) | Dar Soual | |
| Al-Intima’ (Belonging) | Dar Soual | |
| Ahwal Alqbael Fi Dhofar, Imra’a Men Dhofar | Alfarabi | |
| Youssef al-Hajj (2 Books) | Shita’ ’97 (Winter of ’97) | Dar Soual |
| Al-Rawla (Al-Rawla) | Dar Soual | |
| Saud al-Zadjali (2 Books) | Min Zawaya al-Fikr (From the perspectives of thought) | Dar Soual |
| Tabrir al-Siyasa bil-Din (Justifying policy by means of religion) | Dar Arab | |
| Bassam Ali | Uzlat al-Ra’iy (The solitude of the spectator) | Dar Arab |
| Sulaiman al-Maamari | Alladhi La Yuhibb Gamal Abdel Nasser (Who does not like Gamal Abdel Nasser) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Nabhan al-Hanashi (3 Books) | Imra’a Tad-hak fi Ghair Awaniha (A woman laughs at the wrong time) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Dau’ Khafet Li Dhakira Muhtazza (The dim light of a stirred memory) | Dar Masarat | |
| Zill Yasqut min Mir’ah (A shadow falls from a mirror) | Dar Al-Farabi | |
| Hamoud Saud | Imamat al-Askar (The turban of the military) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Mohammad al-Fazari (3 Books) | Khattab Bayn Ghiyabat al-Qabr (Khattab amid the gloom of the grave) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Al-La-Yaqin (Uncertainty) | Dar Arab | |
| Oman: Hiwarat wa Liqa’at (Mowatin [“Citizen(Mowatin)” magazine]: Dialogues and interviews) (contributiing editor) | Dar Masarat | |
| Ahmed al-Araimi (2 Books) | Khalfa Shubbak al-Hadid (Behind the iron grille) | Dar Arab |
| Lak La Walaa‘ (For you no loyalty) | Dar Masarat | |
| Habiba al-Hinaiya | Hara’ir al-Rabee’ (Heroines of the Spring) | Dar Arab |
| Mohammed Alharthy | Aba’d Men Zanzibar | Dar Sharqyat |
| Jamal al-Nawfali | Fareq Tawqeet (Time difference) | Dar Arab |
| Zahran al-Saremi | Awar al-Lahb (The burning flame) | Dar Soual |
| Zaher al-Mahrouqi (2 Books) | Al-Khaleej fi Zaman al-Cholera (The Gulf in the time of cholera) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Han Waqt al-Tas-hih (It’s time to put things right) | Al Intishar Al Arabi | |
| Mohammed al-Yahyai (3 Books) | Hawdh al-Shahwat (The basin of desires) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Yaoum Nafathat Khazena Algobar | Alfarabi | |
| Tiour Baidha’ Tiour Sawda’ | Dar Azmena | |
| Mohammed al-Rahbi | Hitan Sharifa (Sharifa’s whales) | Bait Al Ghasham |
| Hamoud al-Shukaili | Sarkha Wahida La Takfi (One cry is not enough) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Saleh al-Ameri | Firjar al-Ra‘i (The shepherd’s compass) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Salem Al Towaih | Hadd al-Shouf (The limit of the Shouf) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Mohammed Al Harthy | Aba’d Men Zinzibar | Dar Sarqyat |
| Yacoub al-Khanbashi | Audat al-Tha’ir (The rebel’s return) | Al Intishar Al Arabi |
| Badria al-Shehhi | Karma al-Dhib (Wolf karma) | Dar Soual |
| David Buss and Cindy Meston | Al-Nisa’: Al-Wuquf Ala al-Dawafi‘ al-Jinsiya min al-Thar Ila al-Mughamara (Women: Understanding sexual motivations from revenge to adventure) | Al-Moqdeen Publications |
| Salem Hamid | Banadiq al-Nabi’ (The guns of the Prophet) | Sutur |
| Haidar Haidar | Walima li A’shab al-Bahr (A feast for the seaweed) | Dar Ward for Publishing and Distribution |
| Abdulrazzaq al-Jubran | Lusus Allah (God’s thieves) | Noon Publishing |
| Inqilab al-Maabad (The overthrow of the temple) | Noon Publishing | |
| Mubaghghi al-Maabad (The temple brothel) | Noon Publishing | |
| Abdelaziz Baraka Sakin | Samehani | Maskeliani |
Previous editions of the Muscat International Book Fair have seen numerous cases of books being banned and confiscated, and this year once again, despite the current Sultan of Oman, Haithan bin Tareq, promising an era of free expression, the Book Fair’s management team pursued the same policy of banning and confiscation.
This comes at a time of increasing repression of free speech in a state long known to be one of the world’s most secretive. It comes as a consequence of the opposition that flourished for a short time during the events of 2011 and beyond, when rampant corruption in the state was exposed, and writers criticised various forms of political, social and sectarian tyranny.
Behind all of this stands the security apparatus that runs the country’s affairs with the same old mentality of concealing information from the public and brainwashing the majority by means of the local media, using its traditional elements planted in government, cultural and religious institutions to achieve its purposes.
