Ferrero, please can you tell us the reasons behind the choice for the guest of honour? Was Israel invited, or was it chosen after a nomination?

Usually we are contacted by the country which intends to widen knowledge of its literature and its culture in Italy. That’s what happened in recent years with Holland, Canada, Catalonia, Switzerland, Portugal, Brazil, Greece and Lithuania. In summer 2007 the Israeli embassy expressed a desire to bring its culture to our country at the Turin Book Fair, so that the two societies could improve their knowledge of each another. The institutions which make the Fair happen (the City and Province of Turin, and the Piedmont region) assessed the request and welcomed it.

According to supporters of the boycott, the choice of Israel is exclusively political, to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Jewish State. Is this true?

There was no political, propagandist or celebrated intention. It’s about making writers, musicians, scientists and artists come to Turin, who are part of a free culture which is extremely active, recognised and appreciated in Italy and the rest of the world.

At the start of this year it was announced that Egypt would be the guest of honour for the 2008 Fair. What happened?

For some time now we have been undergoing discussions with Egypt, including with writer Gamal al Ghitami who I met in Cairo and know very well. The participation of Egypt, originally planned for this year, was moved to 2009 not to make way for Israel, as someone wrote, but because next year Turin, which is already home to a famous Egyptian museum, will hold important archaeological exhibitions dedicated to Ancient Egypt. We therefore decided to combine the Fair with these exhibitions, so that the two events could support each other, and the Egyptians agreed.

How would you judge the position of Tariq Ramadan, who is leading the boycott and who declares “choosing the State of Israel is neither wise nor just towards the Palestinians”?

We do not invite writers from ‘the State’. Ramadan reasons on exclusively political terms, while we are interested in the cultural aspects. It seems he does not know what a book fair is, even though last year, despite being a much discussed figure in Italy, he was our guest. He was able to speak freely and they listened to him with interest. Now he should let others talk, especially given that the authors invited are by no means against the Palestinian cause, but men of discussion and peace. He seems to forget that most Israeli writers are very critical of their government. In the last few days we read a very important speech by David Grossman. And Amoz Oz declared that Israel was ‘doing nothing for peace’. Why shouldn’t men like Grossman and Oz talk in Turin? Silencing them does not seem to me to be right or wise for the Palestinians. What we offer is a free space where anything can be discussed civilly.

What do you think of the proposal of Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo to invite more Palestinian writers to counter-balance the presence of Israel?

Palestinian writers, such as Ibrahim Nasrallah, Suad Amiry and Sahar Khalifeh, amongst others, have already been invited, but they declined saying that they did not wish to celebrate al-Nabka or Apartheid. But this is not what we ask. First of all, no one is celebrating anything. The 60th anniversary of Israel will only be an occasion to critically discuss an extremely dramatic and painful history. Historians such as Zeev Sternhell and Ilan Pappé, who I believe everyone knows, will be present. Just recently we have also invited Jamil Hilal and Farouk Mardam Bey, the brilliant Director of the Arab publishers ‘Actes Sud’.

What relationship will the Turin Book Fair have for future events with the Arab world and Arab writers?

In the last few years we have had the pleasure of welcoming many guest writers from the Arab world: Mahamoud Darwish has come more than once, Murid al Barghuti, Ibrahim Al-Koni, Bensalem Himmish, Adonis, and so on. In Italy authors such as Adonis, Tahar Ben Jelloun, Khaled Fouad Allam, who is also an Italian MP, are very widely read. And as you well know Amara Lakhous, your books have also had great success. And various Algerian, Tunisian and Liberian authors have accepted the invitation to Turin.

As a writer, you have expressed great discomfort for those writers who have asked for their colleagues to be boycotted. Why?

I believe that writers should be men of discussion and peace. Literature is something which brings people together. As a writer it’s what is written which is important, not the passport, race or religion. What kind of writer would only want to talk to another writer because his government behaves in a certain way?

Are you worried about the development of the upcoming fair?

I hope that at the end of the day, reason will prevail. As sometimes happens and as I can understand, certain instinctive reactions are born from an incomplete picture of the facts. The Turin Book Fair is not ‘dedicated’ to Israel, as someone wrote. There will be writers from Israel, but they will make up 20 or 30 of the 600 or 700 at the event. There’s a place for everyone. In five days the fair will see 300,000 visitors. Why can’t the voice of Palestine be heard too? Why reject the opportunity to know them better?

Do you have an appeal to address to your Arab listeners?

In Italy there is much sympathy for the Palestinian cause and much interest in Arab culture. Italians have many flaws, but they are open, curious, not racist and also very interested in foreign ideas. The Book Fair has always been, throughout its 20 years, a place of meeting and discussion. Hundreds of writers have come from New Zealand and India, the Middle East and Africa, America and China. All that’s left to say is that this controversy is not helping the Palestinian cause; on the contrary it is in fact damaging it, increasing its isolation. We trust all Arab people with good intentions. We want to build bridges, not new walls; we want to unite, not to divide even more. We wish to be able to host Palestine and Palestinian writers for the 2009 Fair.

Translation by Helen Waghorn