The poster for Beyrouth Livres 2025, designed by Lamia Ziade.
French Ambassador to Lebanon Hervé Magro announced the event at a news conference at the Institut français du Liban (IFL) that its annual book fair, Beyrouth Livres, is set to hold its third edition.
Launched in 2022, the festival has drawn around 20,000 visitors since its launch and has lived up to its mission of cultural decentralization, organizers said. “If it survives in a world shaken by multiple crises, it is because we firmly believe that culture and education are fundamental pillars — the bedrock of humanity and the future of Lebanon,” Magro said.
From Oct. 22 to 26, the festival will present more than 80 events across 20 venues, featuring authors, poets, artists and thinkers from 10 countries. Conferences, debates, readings, exhibitions, screenings, concerts, and performances will put literature in the spotlight for five days.
A festival at the heart of multilingualism
For the first time, Beirut will host the Cité internationale de la langue française from Villers-Cotterêts. “Beyrouth Livres is far more than a festival: it is a celebration of Francophone culture that mirrors Lebanon, a country par excellence of multilingualism, which has also joined the ‘Livres des deux rives’ program supporting book exchanges across the Mediterranean,” Magro said.
This year’s poster, by Paris-based author and illustrator Lamia Ziade, combines bright colors, fragments of faces, and city scenes. Ziade, who will publish Rue de Phénicie this fall with P.O.L., described it as a nocturnal wandering in Beirut that searches for both personal and collective wounds.
Writers from around the world
This edition features major Francophone voices such as Nicolas Mathieu, Maylis de Kerangal, Serge Bloch, Hemley Boum, Charles Berberian, Kaouther Adimi, and Rim Battal. Lebanese writers, including Charif Majdalani, Ziade, Marwan Chahine, Hyam Yared, and Laure Ibrahim, will also take part.
Augustin Trapenard, ambassador for Libraries Without Borders, will headline initiatives to promote reading.
Despite its name, the festival is not limited to the capital. Organizers said events will reach about 50 schools and universities nationwide, with stops in Tripoli, Baalbeck, Zahle and Saida, through the IFL network.
Sabine Sciortino, director of the Institut français du Liban, said the creation of Beyrouth Livres to succeed the Salon du livre, the IFL's past literature festival, “responded to a new Lebanese reality.” She also announced the addition of the humanities to the program, including a symposium at Saint Joseph University.
Not-to-miss events
Highlights include Lebanon’s national “quarter-hour of reading” on Oct. 21; the Albert Londres Prize ceremony at ESA Business School, with L'Orient Today journalist Emmanuel Haddad among the nominees; debates on exile, memory, democracy and feminism; and a literary walk through Mar Mikhael turning galleries and cafes into book-signing stops.
Other features include a special L’Orient-Le Jour edition curated by Sabyl Ghoussoub and a youth workshop led by illustrator Marc Boutavant at the National Library.
The closing weekend, Oct. 25-26, will transform the ESA campus into a literary agora with readings, youth workshops, and collective performances. The public will also discover Rêver le Liban, born from a student writing competition, and Le pays blanc, a collaborative project supporting UNICEF.
Evenings at Metro al-Madina will feature performances by Camille Ammoun, Charif Majdalani, Hyam Yared, and Maylis de Kerangal, with sound and visuals by Nasri Sayegh exploring the city’s fractures. A concert-performance by Berberian, “Walaw!,” will mix words, images, and DJ sets.
Cinema will also be on the program, with a screening of Horizontes at Metropolis in partnership with the Swiss Embassy, paired with a presentation of its graphic novel adaptation, Alicia, and a talk with its author and director, Eileen Hofer.
An exhibition curated by Magro, “Diplomatie & Bande dessinée: la France et le monde depuis 1945,” will showcase diplomatic archives alongside comic art. Zarbo’s illustrations will evoke Beirut in 1958, echoing Ziade’s interplay of memory and present.
Beyrouth Livres, organizers said, is more than a literary festival — it is a celebration of culture that brings people together.
The full program is available by clicking here.
