The UAE is spending billions on culture, book fairs and building museums, including a new Louvre. French architecture expert Philip Jodidio talks about why. By Olivia Snaije and Edward Nawotka Today’s lead story looks at four book festivals that have sprung up in cities that are more closely associated with business than culture. Among them is Abu Dhabi. What’s interesting …
Publishers Training Abu Dhabi, Day 4: Quality Control, Enhanced E-books
Salwa Shakhshir, a children’s book publisher from Amman, Jordan, attended the second annual Publishers Training program organized by KITAB and The Center for Publishing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies in Abu Dhabi. She’s documented her experiences for Publishing Perspectives. Read coverage of Day 1, Day 2, Day 3. By Salwa Shakhshir Our final day of training focused …
Publishers Training Abu Dhabi, Day 3: All About Digital
By Salwa Shakhshir SalwaShakhshir, a children’s book publisher from Amman, Jordan, is attending the second annual Publishers Training program organized by KITAB and The Center for Publishing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional Studies in Abu Dhabi. She’s documenting her experiences for Publishing Perspectives. Read coverage of Day 1 and Day 2. Day 3, Publishers Training, Abu …
Publishers Training Abu Dhabi, Day 2: Lessons in Book Design
By Salwa Shakhshir This week Salwa Shakhshir, a children’s book publisher from Amman, Jordan, is attending the second annual Publishers Training program organized by KITAB in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Read coverage of Day 1. Day 2, Publishers Training, Abu Dhabi From the minute I read about this lecture I knew I was going to learn so much from it and …
Publishers Training Abu Dhabi: Lessons from Ian Ballantine
This week Salwa Shakhshir, a children’s book publisher from Amman, Jordan, is attending the second annual Publishers Training program organized by KITAB in Abu Dhabi, UAE. (You can read our coverage of last year’s program here.) It is the first year the program is being run in partnership with the Center for Publishing at New York University’s School of Continuing and Professional …
IPAF Mentors Young Arabic Writers, Produces Anthology
By Edward Nawotka Fiction writing in Arabic has suffered from neglect in international circles, with most of the attention going to poets or political manifestos. But things are starting to change and Western-style workshops are popping up around the Middle East. Over the next nine days, seven promising young Arabic writers will be taking part in a unique writers workshop …
Austin and Abu Dhabi Face Down Digitization, Scantily Clad Women
Editorial by Edward Nawotka SXSW: As I wrote last month, the book conferences are coming fast and furious. Though I’m still suffering from jet lag from my recent trip to the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair (ADIBF), I’m already at another conference, SXSW Interactive in Austin, Texas. What’s noticeably different this year at SXSW are the number of panels –- …
Is POD a Possible Answer to Book Distribution Barriers?
By Edward Nawotka In today’s lead story we cover the launch of Abu Dhabi Distribution, a new pan-Arab book distribution company opened by the organization responsible for running the Abu Dhabi International Book Festival (ADIBF). Distribution has long been a problem for book publishers in the Arabic-speaking region, with 80% books only available within a five kilometer radius of the …
Abu Dhabi Launches Pan-Arab Book Distribution Company
By Edward Nawotka ABU DHABI: On the opening day of the Abu Dhabi International Book Fair, the Abu Dhabi Authority for Culture and Heritage (ADACH), the organization responsible for the event, has launched Abu Dhabi Distribution (ADD), a new private company to facilitate book distribution to the GCC countries, the Maghreb and the Levant, as well as servicing Arab communities …
Do Books Need a Warning Label to Ward Off Pirates?
By Edward Nawotka In our lead story today about the IPA Copyright Symposium held in Abu Dhabi this past Sunday and Monday, Marybeth Peters, register of copyrights, Library of Congress in the United States said that public perception of copyright is eroding and that publishers need to “engage” readers so that “copyright is seen as a good thing” and “not …