Lire en Fete 2006 Being a geek in a developed country isn't that hard. But being a book geek in a primarily agricultural country like Cambodia is a hard slog. You have to be determined to seek out that knowledge and then follow through. The revolution of 1975 left few intellectuals remaining; you'll find that present-day Khmer publishers, printers, writers, librarians are a determined group. Strategies are wildly divergent. The publishing world is not lucrative. But they're in the game for the long term. (above - Book Federation) These are people who get sentimental that Cambodia's finally gotten ISBNs -International Serial Book Numbers. (Kind of like 'Hey, we're finally on the map.') I take a lot of inspiration from that simple determination, and am proud to call many of them my friends. Added to this are a new crop of young publishers and a lot of enthusiastic readers. Stir and you've got this year's Lire en Fete (19, 20, 21 October, French Cultural Centre). Below: some moments from the trilingual craziness yesterday. (More to follow.) Come by and check it out for yourself! Tags: Cambodia,literature,books,libraries

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