| 01 July 2012 | 0 Comments
 
 

March 23-April 23 has been designated as Tunisian national book month, according to a press release from the Ministry of Culture, reported Babnet Tunisie.

The Ministry of Culture views the month-long event as a way to promote Tunisian books and authors and to increase their global exposure, writes Babnet Tunisie.

As Tunisia works to remake its identity in the aftermath of the 2011 Revolution, literature and new forms of writing will help cement the post-revolutionary debate.

Babnet Tunisie added that the Ministry of Culture raised the prospect of creating a national book center, with foreign and national support to create a strong literature base in Tunisia.  Questions about the budget have been raised and will be discussed in upcoming meetings, the article added.

According to a 2007 report by the Tunisian Monitoring Group – a coalition of free expression organizations – Tunisia on average only publishes 200-300 new titles books each year, despite the former regime’s claims of publishing over 1,400 books.

Culture has opened up since the ouster of former Tunisian president Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali, who was notorious for his system of literary censorship. In post-revolutionary Tunisia, books that were banned under the previous regime, such as Habib Bourguiba: La Trace et l’Heritage by Michel Camau and Vincent Geisse, have returned to Tunisia, and signal a new openness in Tunisian literary culture.


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