By Chip Rossetti A newcomer to Frankfurt this year, Iris Mor, editor-in-chief of Israel’s Keter Books, is looking forward to meeting some of her growing list of contacts in person. Mor came to Keter last year from Israel’s Haaretz newspaper, where for fifteen years she had been the arts and culture editor, although she had always hoped to move to …
About the Author
Literary Agent Profile: Yasmina Jraissati of RAYA Agency
Based in Lebanon, Yasmina Jraissati founded Raya Agency to represent Arab authors and build more connections between international and Arab publishers.
The Bookseller of Baghdad (Part Two)
By Chip Rossetti Today Publishing Perspectives concludes its profile of Ibrahim Anas Al-Rajab, director of Baghdad’s legendary Al-Muthanna Library, and one of Iraq’s leading booksellers. Yesterday, Part One focused on the history of the store, from the early 20th century to 1999. Today, we pick up the story at the start of the first Gulf War in 1990 and carry …
The Bookseller of Baghdad (Part One)
By Chip Rossetti Today Publishing Perspectives offers a rare and exclusive profile of Ibrahim Anas Al-Rajab, director of Baghdad’s legendary Al-Muthanna Library, and one of Iraq’s leading booksellers. Part one, published today, focuses on the history of the store, from the early 20th century to 1999, when it mysteriously burnt down. Tomorrow, we continue with Part 2, picking up from …
Arabic Publishing News: Iraq to Officially Censor Books
By Chip Rossetti The Iraqi Ministry of Culture has just taken the unexpected step of launching a program of official censorship of books imported from abroad. The new rule also applies to books published within Iraq, as publishers are required to obtain authorization before printing. Needless to say, this has provoked a hostile reaction from Iraqi publishers and booksellers, calling …
Austria’s Blackbetty Tackles Arabic Ebooks for Phones
by Chip Rossetti VIENNA: For Jörg Hotter, CEO of Blackbetty Mobilemedia GmbH, a Viennese company that creates the software to make texts readable on mobile phones, the future of publishing looks small. Specifically, he says, it will be the small screens on the 800 varieties of mobile devices currently on the market worldwide that will be the next step in …
Publisher Witnessed Assassination During Tehran Protests
By Chip Rossetti TEHRAN: Amid the post-election turmoil and public protests that have roiled Iran over the last several weeks, one of the most poignant (and potent) symbols for the opposition has been Neda Agha-Soltan, the young woman shot by a government sniper in the midst of the Tehran crowds on June 20. A short, shaky video of her death …
Iraqi, Egyptian Publishers Enthuse Over New CEO Training Program
By Chip Rossetti ABU DHABI: KITAB, the joint venture of the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage and the Frankfurt Book Fair, recently held the first of two five-day CEO-level training programs it has organized this year for publishers from the Arab world. Nineteen publishers from eight Arab countries attended a series of workshops in Abu Dhabi from June …
Kotobarabia’s Arabic E-Books Extend Borders
By Chip Rossetti CAIRO: Most of the difficulties faced by Arabic-language book publishing stem from two basic problems: government censorship and very limited distribution. But with e-books, Ramy Habeeb, founder of the Egypt-based publisher Kotobarabia, has managed to bypass both seemingly intractable problems. As the first e-publisher devoted exclusively to Arabic-language titles, www.kotobarabia.com now offers over 8500 books in 31 …